Over the Hills and Far Away
by WeirdyMcWeirderton
Summary: It's been a year since Sam jumped into the pit when Dean and Gracilynn find him. But something seems off about him. Will they be able to figure it out before someone gets hurt or worse? Sequel to Dust in the Wind. Should read previous stories in order to understand this one. Picture by jessfairy88.
1. Or Something

Okay everyone, here it is! The next installment of my Gracilynn stories! I try to be ahead in writing a few chapters so this way if anything happens and I can't write too much, I can still update. As of right now, I have the first four chapters done. I also want to thank everyone who submitted ideas for flashbacks. I loved them all! I will try to include all of them. Anyways, enjoy!

Oh, and all flashbacks will be written in italics to separate them from present day.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dean, Sam, or any other Supernatural characters. However, I do own Gracilynn.

Gracilynn is curled up in her bed, for once waking up to a good dream. She hears her door open and dad walk in. Dean walks over and gently shakes her shoulder.

"Hey, kiddo, time to get up," he says. Gracilynn groans, comfortable in the bed. "Or you can stay in bed and miss your trip."

"I'm up, I'm up," Gracilynn groans, stretching. Dean waits until Gracilynn throws her covers off before leaving the room and heading downstairs.

It was five in the morning and they had to be at the school at six to catch the buses. It was a school trip to Rhode Island all the Juniors took and she ahd really wanted to go. Her dad wasn't too keen on her going all the way up there but Lisa had convinces him to let her. Gracilynn looks up at the ceiling remembering the whole conversation.

_"I don't know Gracie," Dean says, looking at the permission slip. "That's really far away."_

_ "Dad, come on," Gracilynn begs. "I've been doing good in school and I haven't gotten in any fights recently. It's my Junior trip."_

_ Dean runs a hand through his hair re-reading the information packet. Lisa walks in the the room, taking in the scene before her. Gracilynn looks over at her, sending her the puppy dog eyes mouthing 'Help. Please.' Lisa silently sighs. She had always picked on Dean for crumbling at the look but now that Gracilynn has found it okay to turn the puppy dog eyes on her as well? Lisa shoots Gracilynn an encouraging smile._

_ "Dean maybe you should let her go," Lisa says, walking over to them. Dean looks over at Lisa._

_ "So, what? You two make up and now you're going to gang up on me?" Dean asks, smirking._

_ "No, you're right. It _is_ far and anything could happen," Lisa begins, earning a look from Gracilynn, "But that's why there's many chaperones. And you taught her everything she knows. She's got your phone number on speed dial too. Dean, she's seventeen. It's her Junior year. Let her go."_

_ Dean looks at Lisa, who is watching him. Dean's eyes wander over to his daughter before looking down at the paper again, fighting a way in his head. Lisa sighs and looks over at Gracilynn._

_ "Gracilynn, can you give us a minute please?" Lisa asks. Gracilynn nods her head and leaves the kitchen, going upstairs to her room. "Dean."_

_ Dean looks up at Lisa watching her walk over to him. _

_ "Let's face it. Adjusting to a normal life again hasn't been easy for her," Lisa says, "Especially Ben and I randomly coming into her life. This trip? It's normal. All the Juniors go. She _wants_ to do it. She's trying and she's starting to _really _adjust. She gave us a chance, the least we can do is give her a chance." _

_Dean sighs._

"_Yeah…I know," he says. He looks up the stairs before taking the pen Lisa holds out to him and signs the permission slip. Lisa kisses him and, grabbing the permission slip, heads upstairs to Gracilynn's room._

"Gracilynn! Let's go! Lisa's already got breakfast ready!" Dean's voice yells up the stairs. Gracilynn groans but climbs out of her bed and quickly goes into the bathroom to take a shower. After her shower, Gracilynn walks downstairs and takes a seat at the table with Lisa and her dad. There is a plate of pancakes in front of her and she digs into it. She looks around the table, seeing the tired but contented looks on her dad and Lisa's faces. She smiles slightly to herself, remembering a breakfast like this one about ten months ago. That one had a very different outcome.

"_School starts in a couple weeks," Lisa says at the breakfast table. Dean looks up from his plate._

_ "Oh, right," he says, glancing over at Gracilynn._

_ "I can take Gracilynn to go get registered so you don't have to take off your first week at your new job," Lisa offers. _

_ "I though parents do that," Gracilynn says._

_ "They do," Dean says distantly, because that's exactly what he'd been, distant. "But if I don't have to take off work I don't want to. It's only my first week there Gracilynn."_

_ "So, take me after work," Gracilynn says. Dean thinks about it._

_ "They close at four and your dad doesn't get out until five," Lisa explains._

_ "So, take me on Saturday. Or are they closed on weekends," Gracilynn says sarcastically, directing the last statement at Lisa._

_ "Gracilynn," Dean warns._

_ "No, she's not my mom. I don't want her to take me," Gracilynn argues. Dean sighs tiredly. Gracilynn had gradually been getting more and more angry and taking it out on Lisa. He was surprised she hadn't kicked them out yet._

_ "Gracilynn, I'm sorry your dad…" Lisa starts._

_ "Don't," Gracilynn bites out, cutting Lisa off. "I want my dad to take me. It should be family who does it and no offense, but you ain't my family."_

_ "Gracilynn," Dean growls out. Gracilynn quickly clamps her mouth shut. "Lisa's just trying to help. Apologize."_

_ "What?" Gracilynn protests, looking over at her dad. His face leaves no room for argument. Gracilynn's jaw tenses but she eventually turns towards Lisa. "Sorry."_

_ "Lisa will take you," Dean says, earning a huff from his daughter._

_ "Fine. But she isn't introducing herself as my damn parent," Gracilynn grinds out, standing up and leaving the table._

Gracilynn picks up her dishes and sets them in the sink. Dean follows suit, grabbing his jacket after and putting it on.

"Thanks for breakfast Lisa. It was really good," Gracilynn says, putting her coat on.

"No problem. You have fun," Lisa says. Gracilynn gives her a hug before picking up her bag and following her dad out the door.

"Gracilynn!" Gracilynn looks up from putting her bags in the pile to see Laurie, a brown-eyed brunette, approach her. Gracilynn returns Laurie's smile.

"Hey, Laurie," Gracilynn greets.

"Hey! I'm so happy your dad let you come on this trip," Laurie says happily.

"Yeah, well, we can thank Lisa for this," Gracilynn says.

"Well, either way, I'm glad you're here," Laurie says.

"Me too," Gracilynn says. A pair of arms wrap around her and Gracilynn tenses. She peers behind her and sees a boy of about 5'10" and light brown hair and blue eyes and relaxes. "Hey Duke."

"Hey Babe," duke says, giving her a kiss. "Hey Laurie."

"Hey," Laurie replies. There is a loud rumble and the three of them look up to see the Greyhound buses pull up and park next to the sidewalk.

All of the students and teachers begin loading their bags into the storage unit under the bus. Gracilynn, Laurie, and Duke climb onto the bus and take a seat at the very back. A few other people sit down with them, their seat looking like a wrap-around couch. Once everyone is situated on the bus, the driver starts it back up and pulls onto the road.

Gracilynn looks out the window. Someone says something and the rest of the group laugh, but she doesn't join in, her mind wandering. Her eyes pick up a figure standing at the corner o the building. Her eyes grow wide and she all but stands up trying to get a better look.

"Babe?" Duke asks. Gracilynn looks over at him, noticing everyone watching her. She looks back at the corner but the figure is gone.

"Sorry. I thought I saw someone I knew," Gracilynn says sitting back down in her seat. _Dammit. Why am I still seeing Uncle Sam. I thought I was done with this._

There is a thump, followed by a few more. Gracilynn flinches, watching as her uncle beats on her dad's face. She feels the tears prickle behind her eyes. She closes them, willing them to disappear. The silence is broken by her uncles' voice and Gracilynn opens her eyes again. She watches as her uncle throws the rings on the ground and say the chant. She watches as his eyes connect with hers and then move to connect with her dads. The tears low freely down her face now and she helplessly watches as her uncle grabs Michael's jacket and disappears into the pit.

Gracilynn jerks away, gasping and sitting up straight. She blinks a few times and realizes the group she's sitting with is staring at her. She pushes the memory aside and gives them a smile, pulling out her headphones.

"You all right?" Laurie asks, eyeing her. Duke watches her as well.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Stupid spider nightmares, ya know?" Gracilynn says with a smirk. "What's going on?"

"Danielle was just telling us about her trip to visit her Aunt and Uncle," Joey says, staring at her.

"Oh, okay," Gracilynn says, leaning up against Duke who puts his arm around her.

"I wish my Aunt and Uncle were that cool," Joey says to Danielle. "They're really uptight."

"Mine are a lot of fun, they just live across the country," Laurie puts in.

"My uncle's like a big kid. No one's sure who gets into more trouble, him or the kids," Sarah adds.

"How about you Gracilynn?" Danielle asks.

"What?" Gracilynn asks in return, hoping she's not asking what she thinks Danielle's asking.

"Do you have any uncle's or aunt's?" Danielle asks.

"Oh…uh…no…not really," Gracilynn answers, not wanting to get into this.

"Well, my aunt's really serious so she's not a whole lot of fun and I hardly ever see my uncle," Duke says, trying to steer the conversation to him. Danielle and Joey don't let him.

"So, both your parents are only children?" Joey asks.

"Uh…no. just my mom was," Gracilynn answers, trying to find a way out of this.

"But I thought you said…"

"My uncle's not…" Gracilynn begins, pausing before choking out the words. "…alive anymore."

"Oh, sorry," Danielle says, feeling bad for pushing the issue. Gracilynn tries to shrug it off before the situation gets anymore chick flick.

"He did what he had to," she says, shrugging.

"Was he in the Army or something?" Sarah asks. Gracilynn looks at everyone a moment before answering.

"Or something," she replies, and taking a page out of the Dean Winchester Book of Conversation Enders, puts her headphones back in and turns the music back on, turning the volume up. Gracilynn closes her eyes and leans her head back against Duke's shoulder. She feels him give her a slight squeeze and hears the group begin talking again.

Gracilynn fights the emotions inside her. She realizes that no matter how normal she acts, she'll never be normal again. _I mean, how the hell do you explain your uncle died saving the world from the Apocalypse? How the hell do you explain he said yes to Lucifer and jumped into the pit pit with him riding your ass and is now being tortured endlessly? You can't. _And for that, Gracilynn knows that her uncle will never get the gratitude from everyone that he deserves.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! Can't wait to hear!


	2. I've Been Seeing Him

Okay, so a few things before we get started. First off, great news! My "geek-boy sidekick" little brother fixed my computer so now I don't have to wait until I can use my parents computer to update I can do it whenever! Secondly, having said that, the chapters might not be as quick because I have never written a story with so many flashback scenes as this one. I find that it's easier if I outline each job out so this way I don't forget to put the flashback's in. I don't think it'll be crazy longer but just in case it takes a couple days to update, that's why. Thirdly, because I haven't done a story with this many flashbacks in it, I wanted to know how you guys think it is going with them?

Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Gracilynn wakes up, feeling the bus slow down and come to a halt. She pulls out her headphones and puts her ipod away. She notices they're parked in a restaurant parking lot. Gracilynn stands up and follows the rest of the group off the bus and into the restaurant. She takes a seat at a table with Laurie and Duke, hanging her jacket on the back of the chair.

"Hey, look. A picture board," Laurie says after they order their drinks and food. She gets up and heads over to look at the pictures. Gracilynn and Duke get up and follow after her. Gracilynn looks at all the pictures showing everyone who was able to eat the restaurant's hot wings. Her eyes fall on one of the pictures, noticing someone in the background that looks familiar. She tries to pull it off the board but it's glued on tight. She peers at it closer, trying to get a good look at the guy sitting at a table in the background. Her eyes grow wide as she sees who she thinks it is.

_Gracilynn sits at her desk near the window. She leans back, tipping her chair as her teacher drones on. Bored, she looks out the window and sees her uncle. She startles and falls out of the chair. Everyone in the class turns and looks at her. Gracilynn ignores them, picking herself back up and quickly looking out the window again but doesn't see anyone._

"_Gracilynn, you all right?" Mr. McGannon asks._

"_Uh…yeah…I'm um, can I go to the bathroom?" Gracilynn stutters out, glancing out the window again. _

"_Of course," Mr. McGannon answers, looking at her curiously._

_Gracilynn hurries out the room. Instead of heading to the bathroom though, she heads outside to where she saw her uncle. She looks around but doesn't see him or anything else that would let her know he was there. She turns when she hears a rumble of an engine and sees a black 2010 Charger take off down the road. Gracilynn sighs, but admits defeat, and head back to class._

"Gracilynn!" Laurie all but yells, shaking her shoulder. Gracilynn startles and looks over at her and Duke.

"What?" she asks.

"We've been calling you for the past five minutes," Laurie says, "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing," Gracilynn says, glancing back at the photo. "Can you guys cover me for a little bit? I gotta figure some stuff out."

"Where are you gonna go? We're only in town to eat," Duke says.

"And how long is a little bit?" Laurie asks.

"I don't know. I'll call you when I'm done and I'll catch back up with you guys," Gracilynn responds.

"Gracilynn," Duke says.

"Listen," Gracilynn says, turning to face them, "I have to do this. It's the only way I can get answers. Please."

Laurie and Duke watch her for a moment. They exchange glances, nodding their heads. Duke disappears back to their table and Laurie turns back to face her.

"Okay, we'll do it," Laurie says.

"Thank you," Gracilynn says, giving her friend a smile. She turn and takes her jacket from Duke, telling him thank you as well. Gracilynn takes a quick picture of the photo with her phone and disappears out the back door. Laurie and Duke exchange glances before looking back at the photo on the wall.

Gracilynn walks into the bus station and up to the window. She sends the older, grey-haired man a smile she picked up from her uncle; the one she uses for all older and middle-aged people.

"Hi," she says. The grey-haired man returns her smile.

"Hello," he says, "How can I help you young lady."

"When's your next bus to Sioux Falls, South Dakota leave?" Gracilynn asks.

"Sioux Falls," the man, Tim by his name tag, mutters looking at the schedule on his desk, "Not until eight tonight."

"Eight? That's like eight hours away," Gracilynn complains, looking at her phone.

"I'm sorry," Tim says apologetically.

"No, it's okay. It's not your fault," Gracilynn says. She looks outside and sees a bunch of cars and an idea hits her. "I'm gonna see if I can find something else. I might be back."

"I'll be here," Tim says, giving her a smile. Gracilynn returns it this time and heads back outside.

It doesn't take long for Gracilynn to find an older model car not on the main street. She quickly picks the lock and hot-wires the car. Soon after, she finds herself on the Interstate heading towards Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Her mind begins to wander to another time earlier in the year where she snuck off.

_She had told her dad she was staying at Laurie's house. He had believed her; not like he was all there right now. She saw what her uncle's…jump…did to him. Saw the hole in his heart and the pain in his eyes. She had a job to do: take care of her dad. And she did just that; kept her emotions inside- well, all but her anger- and did everything she could to take care of her dad and make sure he was okay._

_Truth was, she wasn't doing good at all. She was having nightmares as much as her dad about the whole thing. It was killing her knowing where her uncle was. It was killing her knowing that her and her dad couldn't find anything to get him out- and they looked _everywhere_. It was killing her to watch her dad and knowing everything she's doing to help him isn't doing squat. She was done with the let downs; done with the pain, and the worry, and the fear. _

_So, she told her dad she was staying at a friend's house and hot-wired a car and began driving. She figured if her dad can find solace in a woman then she was going to find solace in a guy. And there was only one guy that would even remotely understand any of this. _

_Hours later, Gracilynn finds herself entering Thompkinsville. She pulls into the motel parking lot and turns the car off. She sits for a minute before pulling out her phone. Finding the name she's looking for she hits send._

"_Hello?"_

"_I believe you told me if I was ever in town again to give you a call," Gracilynn says._

"_Gracilynn?" the guy asks._

"_Yeah."_

"_You're in town? Where are you?" he asks._

"_Home sweet home," Gracilynn says, looking at the motel in front of her and knowing he'd know what she was talking about. "Can you come here?"_

"_I'll be there in ten," the guy says hanging up the phone._

_ Gracilynn looks up when she hears a knock on the door. She had gotten a room after hanging up the phone. True to his word, he had arrived ten minutes later. Gracilynn walks over and, after making sure it was really him, she opens it. A guy her age with medium brown hair and hazel eyes stands in front of her. He looks a little taller than she last remembers but he's still wearing his normal jeans, t-shirt, and leather jacket._

_ "Hey, Scott," Gracilynn says, shooting him a smile she's seen her dad give numerous woman countless times. Scott returns it with a flirtatious smile of his own. Gracilynn steps to the side, letting him in._

_ "No dad or uncle?" Scott asks, looking around the room and not seeing anyone else there._

_ "No, dad's back at the house and Uncle Sam's…" Gracilynn begins but stops herself. Scott turns and looks at her._

_ "What's wrong?" he asks. Gracilynn bites her lip and looks away. "He didn't make it."_

_ Gracilynn's head jerks towards him, surprised that he figured it out so fast._

_ "W…what?" she asks._

_ "In whatever job you were working. He didn't make it did he?" Scott asks. The image of her uncle jumping into the pit flashes in front of her. She shakes it off and focuses back on Scott._

_ "Yeah," she says softly._

_ "Ya know, this," he says, pointing at the two of them and the room around them ,knowing exactly why she's there, "Isn't gonna make you forget."_

_ "It will or a little while," Gracilynn says._

_ "You sure about that?" Scott asks._

_ "No," Gracilynn answers, "But…"_

_ "But what?" Scott prods after a moment._

_ "I've tried everything. Right now…I'm willing to try _anything_ that might even have a small chance at working," Gracilynn continues. Scott studies her for a moment._

_ "Okay," Scott says, walking over to Gracilynn, "If you're really sure about this."_

_ "I am," Gracilynn says right before he kisses her._

Gracilynn turns into the driveway and parks the car in front of the porch. She takes a deep breath before exiting the car and walking up to the front door of Bobby's house, knocking on it. She waits a few minutes before she hears footsteps and the door opens, revealing a stunned Bobby.

"Gracilynn?" he asks, looking around the yard for Dean but only finds an Oldsmobile. Instantly, his mind begins thinking something happened to Dean and his heart rate picks up.

"I think I found Uncle Sam," Gracilynn says bluntly. Bobby's eyes snap to her face, this being not anywhere close to what he was expecting.

"What?" he asks. Gracilynn pulls out her phone and shows him the picture. She zooms it in to the guy sitting at the back table. Bobby takes the phone from her, staring at it. His eyes move back to Gracilynn.

"Come on in," Bobby says, handing her the phone back.

"I don't know Gracilynn. I mean we all saw Sam jump," Bobby says, "It's prolly just someone who looks like him."

"Uncle Bobby. I've been seeing him," Gracilynn says.

"That usually happens when you're grieving," Bobby points out.

"No Uncle Bobby. I've been _seeing_ him. At first, I thought it was just that, my imagination. But between seeing him multiple times and now this," Gracilynn says, holding up her phone giving him the puppy dog look.

"All right. I'll look into it," Bobby says, caving in. Then, asking, even though he already knows the answer, "Your daddy doesn't know about any of this does he? He doesn't know you're here?"

"Seeing Uncle Sam jump. Knowing where he is. It's killing him Uncle Bobby. He's acting normal, but it's fake. I can see it. This? If it's not real? It'd just destroy him after getting his hopes up. Uncle Sam asked me to look out for dad. Passed his job onto me and I intend to do it. I don't want to tell him until I know for sure," Gracilynn explains.

"Okay," Bobby says, then, his eyes narrow. "How d'you get here?"

"Um…I…uh…hot-wired a car," Gracilynn says sheepishly. Bobby can't help but think she looks just like her dad with that look.

"Gracilynn," Bobby says.

"The next bus for Sioux alls wasn't for another eight hours. This was important. I couldn't wait," Gracilynn defends. Bobby sighs.

"At least take one of my cars for the way back," Bobby says.

"How are you gonna get it back then? 'Sides, if dad sees it and finds out I was here…" Gracilynn says. Bobby sighs again.

"Fine, just be careful," Bobby says. "I'll call you if I find out anything."

"Thanks Uncle Bobby," Gracilynn says, giving him a hug which he returns. Gracilynn sends him a cocky smile before exiting out the front door and climbing into the car. She starts it up and, waving good-bye, drives away.

Okay, so what did ya'll think?! Did anyone figure out who she was calling in the flashback? Do ya'll remember who he is? Please review!


	3. Good For Who?

Here's the next chapter!

Gracilynn had met back up with the group in Rhode Island and had to explain to her teachers why they hadn't seen her in a while. Laurie and Duke did their best to come up with excuses but the teachers were getting suspicious. Fortunately for her, she learned how to lie from the best and wound a story that consisted of her not feeling good and that she'd been running to the bathroom every time she felt sick to her stomach and that she had slept a lot. The teachers bought it and she went on her merry way. They had just returned and Duke had given her a ride home. Gracilynn climbs out of the car, going to the trunk to grab her bags. Duke climbs out as well, meeting her at the trunk as she shuts it and throws her bags over her shoulder.

"You sure you're all right?" Duke asks, looking at her skeptically.

"Duke, I'm fine. Really," Gracilynn says, giving him a kiss and making her way towards the front door, noticing a car parked on the street a little ways down. Duke sighs but leaves it be. He climbs back into his car and drives off, honking the horn and waving bye. Gracilynn waves back and enters the house, dropping her back on the floor by the stairs. She looks around but doesn't see anyone.

"Dad! Lisa! Ben!" Gracilynn yells throughout the house. She doesn't get an answer, and after searching the whole house, she doesn't see them anywhere either. Gracilynn pulls out her phone and hits her dad's speed dial. It rings a few times before going to voicemail and Gracilynn lets out an aggravated sigh.

"Dad, hey, it's me," Gracilynn says into the phone walking into the garage. "I just got back from my…"

Gracilynn trails off, seeing the destruction in the garage. Boxes are knocked over and things are misplaced as if there was a fight or something.

"Dad…I think you need to call me back right now," Gracilynn says with a hint of fear in her voice. She hangs up her phone and shoves it in her pocket. She takes a look around the garage but doesn't see anything missing, just a mess. She hears a couple of cars pull up and shut off out in front of the house, followed by the door flinging open. Just as she's about to grab a gun from the trunk of the Impala she hears her dad's voice.

"Gracie?! Gracie! Lisa?! Lisa! Ben?! Ben!" Gracilynn turns around and rushes into the house colliding with her dad and almost falling over.

"Gracie! You okay?" Dean asks, checking her over.

"I'm fine," she says, being yanked into a hug by her dad. She talks into his jacket. "You didn't answer your phone."

"Lisa? Ben?" Dean asks, ignoring the statement.

"Not here. They weren't here when I got here. That was fifteen minutes ago," Gracilynn says. Dean pulls out his phone, checking Gracilynn over again, and calls Lisa. Before the call is answered though, Lisa and Ben walk in the front door.

"Where the hell have you been?" Dean asks, walking over to them.

"We…we were at the movies. You knew that," Lisa says, looking at Dean curiously. Dean pulls her into a hug taking Lisa by surprise. "Dean, ow."

"What happened?" Ben asks, looking from Dean to Gracilynn.

"Go upstairs and pack a bag," Dean says to him, "Gracie you too."

"Where are we going?" Lisa asks, confused.

"I'm taking us to a friend's house. Go. It's okay. Go on up. I'll be there in a sec," Dean says.

"Uncle Bobby's?" Gracilynn asks. Dean nods his head.

"What the hell?" Lisa asks as Sam enters the room.

"Um…" Ben says, not sure what to say. Gracilynn stares at him, her breath catching in her throat and her eyes beginning to prickle.

"Lisa, Ben, I don't know if you remember…" Dean begins.

"Uncle Sammy?" Gracilynn asks, not daring to take her eyes off him for fear of him disappearing again. Before she knows what she's doing, Gracilynn plows into Sam, giving him a hug, hanging on tightly. Sam returns it, smiling slightly. _He's back. He's really back_.

Dean and the group walk up the stairs and onto the porch, approaching the front door of Bobby's house. Dean knocks a couple times waiting for Bobby to answer it. They hear footsteps and Gracilynn feels a sense of déjà vu. Bobby opens the door and takes in the group in front of him.

"Damn it," he mutters.

"It's good to see you, too, Bobby. It's been a while," Dean says.

"If you're here, something's wrong," Bobby says, glancing towards Gracilynn before shifting his gaze back to Dean.

"Bobby, this is Lisa and Ben," Dean says, pointing at the two of them.

"Hi," Lisa says.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you two. Mi casa es su casa. Maybe you want to just go upstairs. TV's broken, but there's plenty of Reader's Digest. Just don't touch the decor, okay? Assume it's all loaded," Bobby says, stepping to the side and letting the group in the house. Lisa and Ben head upstairs and Dean and Gracilynn turn to look at Bobby.

"So…" Dean says, not sure what to say.

"Hey, Bobby," Sam says from behind Gracilynn.

"Sam," Bobby greets.

"You knew? You knew Sam was alive," Dean asks noticing the lack of reaction from his mentor. Gracilynn stares at Bobby.

"Yeah," Bobby says, not looking at Dean nor Gracilynn.

"How long?" Dean asks defensively.

"Look…" Bobby begins trying to defend his argument.

"How long?!" Dean yells.

"All year," Bobby says.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Dean says angrily.

"Wait, hold on. Uncle Bobby you knew he was back and you didn't tell me. I came here looking for damn answers and you lied to me. And you," Gracilynn says, turning to Sam, "Were back or a year and…"

"Wait, when d'you talk to Bobby about this?" Dean asks, looking at Gracilynn. Gracilynn bites her lip. "Gracilynn Samantha."

"When I was supposed to be on my trip," Gracilynn answers, "I saw a picture and thought I saw uncle Sam in the background. So, I took a picture of it and showed Uncle Bobby."

"Oh," Dean says, thinking about what she said, then it dawn on him. "Wait, you showed it to him? How the hell d'you get out here?"

"I…uh…hot-wired a car. The bus didn't have a route out here for a long time," Gracilynn answers sheepishly.

"We're not done talking about this," Dean says, pointing at Gracilynn before turning back to Bobby, "You shouldn't have kept this from us. You should've said something."

"I'd do it again," Bobby says. Gracilynn and Dean look over at Bobby.

"Why?" they ask in unison.

"Because you got out, Dean! You and Gracilynn both. You walked away from the life. You were both part of a family. And I was so damn grateful, you got no idea," Bobby says.

"Do you have any clue what walking away meant for me? For us?" Dean asks angrily.

"Yeah…a woman and a kid and neither one of you getting your guts ripped out at age 30. Gracilynn not worrying for your safety every minute of the day. That's what it meant," Bobby answers.

"That woman and that kid - I went to them because you asked me to," Dean says to Sam.

"Good," Bobby counters.

"Good for who? We showed up on their doorstep half out of our heads with grief. God knows why they even let us in. I drank too much. We both had nightmares. We looked everywhere. We collected hundreds of books, trying to find anything to bust you out," Dean says. Gracilynn looks over at him, surprised he knew about her nightmares. Then again, was she really that surprised.

"You promised you'd leave it alone," Sam points out.

"Of course I didn't leave it alone! Sue me!" Dean yells.

"You're his brother," Gracilynn jumps in. "My uncle. Why the hell would you think we _wouldn't_ look for you. And here you are traipsing around the friggin' country for a year! A year! You couldn't have put dad out of his misery?! Put me out of my misery?!"

"Look, I get it wasn't easy. But that's life! And it's as close to happiness as I've ever seen a hunter get. It ain't like I wanted to lie to you, son. Either of you. But the two of you were out," Bobby says, making sure to look at Gracilynn as well.

"Do we look out to you?" Dean asks angrily.

Dean walks up to Lisa whose sitting on the stairs in Bobby's house. He takes a seat next to her.

"How's he doing?" Dean asks her. Lisa looks towards the top of the stairs before answering.

"He's okay. How's Gracilynn?" Lisa asks.

"She'll be fine. She's tough," Dean says, smiling slightly.  
"How are you?" Lisa asks.

"Look, I know Bobby's a little crotchety, but he's great. He's gonna look after you guys. Me, Sam, and Gracie, we're gonna head out," Dean says, evading the question.

"For how long?" Lisa asks.

"I'm so sorry, Lisa," Dean says.

"For what?" she asks.

"Those things were coming for me. And I should've known," Dean explains.

"How could you know a monster was gonna show up?" Lisa challenges.

"I should've known. I should've known that if I stayed with you that something would come, because something always does. But I was stupid and reckless and...You can't outrun your past," Dean says, looking off to the side.

"You're saying good-bye," Lisa states.

"I'm saying I'm sorry... For everything. Everything," Dean says, looking over at her.

"You're an idiot. I mean, I know it wasn't greeting-card perfect, but we were in it together," Lisa says, meeting his gaze with her own determined one.

"I was a wreck half the time. And Gracie…well, she was being a royal…" Dean says, but Lisa cuts him off.

"Yeah, well, the guy that basically just saved the world shows up at your door, you expect him to have a couple of issues. And Gracilynn, well, she had a right to be that way. She lost her mom. She lost her uncle. She felt she was losing you and she was being thrown into our family. Truth is she handled it better than I thought she would. And you're always so amazing with Ben. You know what I wanted, more than anything was a guy that Ben could look up to like a dad. And having Gracilynn treat him like a little brother was great. So, you're saying its' all bad, Dean? 'Cause it was the best year of my life," Lisa says.

_Gracilynn walks into the house, having just gotten off the bus. The whole day was miserable. It shouldn't have been, it was the last day before Thanksgiving break, but that was the problem. Thanksgiving was a time to be thankful, but what did she really have to be thankful for. Her uncle was being tortured down in hell and her dad wasn't even confiding in her. Oh, he'd confide in Lisa but not her. She stops abruptly as she comes to the living room. Lisa and her dad were on the couch and it had looked like her dad had been crying. Dean wipes his wipes eyes quickly before greeting her._

"_Hey Gracie," he says. Gracilynn clenches her jaw, glaring daggers at Lisa. What the hell did she know. She wasn't there. She has no clue what the hell went down. _

_ "Hey," Gracilynn replies icily. "What's she doing here?"_

_ "Gracilynn," Dean says. Gracilynn doesn't care. Today was supposed to be their day. They were going to go out to eat and then drive to the field and watch the stars that they used to do when Uncle Sam was here. _

_ "Whatever," she says, dropping her bag on the floor and walking up to her room._

_ Gracilynn is lying on her bed, listening to Led Zeppelin when she hears a knock at the door. She purposely ignores it, not wanting to talk to anyone. Unfortunately, the person at the door doesn't go away and knocks again. Gracilynn rolls her eyes._

"_Come in," she says, put off. Lisa walks in and sits down at the foot of her bed. Gracilynn sighs exaggeratedly. _

"_Listen. I know you hate me. And I don't blame you. You lost your mom…" Lisa starts._

"_You don't know anything about my mom," Gracilynn says heatedly, sitting up and turning the music off, glaring daggers at Lisa. Lisa takes a deep breath and keeps going._

"_And then it was just you, your dad, and your uncle. Now here I am. But I'm not here to take your moms' place. I don't want to; her place isn't my place. But what I _do_ want is to be there for you when you need me," Lisa says. Gracilynn rolls her eyes, but then something dawns on her._

"_What about my place?" Gracilynn asks._

"_What?" Lisa asks, confused at the question._

"_You said you didn't want to take my mom's place. But what about my place? You weren't around when it happened; you weren't _there_. You didn't _watch_ it happen. So, how is it that _you_ can even _begin_ to understand what he's going through," Gracilynn says heatedly. _

"_You're right. I can't. And I won't ever. _You_ are the best person for that job," Lisa says. "But let me explain something to you. As a mother. Not your mother, but _a_ mother. The last thing a parent wants to do is lay their burdens on their children. Especially, when they see their children with their own burdens. They will do anything they can _not_ to do that. Your dad sees you in the same pain he's in. The last thing he wants to do is put more on your shoulders. And in order not to do that he turns to the only other adult around who even knows what he used to do. Give your dad a little break. He's really trying."_

"_Yeah, whatever," Gracilynn says._

Please review and let me know what ya'll think!


	4. Yes You Would

Here's the next chapter! Hope ya'll like it!

"Huh, I love this one. Yours or, uh, your wife's?" Gwen asks Dean, holding up a magazine. They had arrived back at Lisa's place about ten minutes ago. Mark picks up one of the photos on the table.

"Hey. Do me a favor… don't touch that," Dean says to him.

"Golf? Really?" Sam asks, holding up a golf club.

"It's a…it's a sport," Dean says defensively. Gracilynn snorts and Dean shoots her a glare. Dean walks past them and into the kitchen where Samuel is.

"Nice house," Samuel says.

"Oh, yeah. Go ahead, say it…call me a soccer mom. Whatever," Dean says sarcastically.

"'Soccer mom,' huh? Well, I'll have to look that up on the 'intranet.' You know, believe it or not, I...I get it, Dean. You wanted a normal life. Your mom wanted a normal life, too. You remind me of her, actually. The attitude, for one thing. Your brother tell you what we been dealing with the past few months?" Samuel says.

"No, not really," Dean says.

"I've never seen anything quite like it. Been working 'round the clock," Samuel adds.

"So, what's going on?" Dean asks.

"We don't know. But whatever it is, it goes way past a couple of djinn acting off… Nocturnals attacking in broad daylight, werewolves out on the half-moon, creatures that we've never even seen before. We don't…we don't even know what they are. I'm knee-deep in half-eaten human hearts and exsanguinated 10-year-olds, and it's all making me… Uneasy," Samuel says.

"So, what's your theory?" Dean asks.

"You tell me. All we really know is it's all hands on deck. We're counting on each other right now. That's how it is with Campbells. We need you, Dean," Samuel answers.

"Look, I hear you, but…" Dean says, looking down the hall at his daughter. Samuel follows his gaze.

"I still think it's a bad idea for you to bring her with you. We don't need a little girl along as luggage," Samuel says. Dean shoots him an annoyed look.

"She's far from luggage. She's my daughter. I ain't leaving her behind. 'Sides, she can take care of herself. You should know something about that," Dean says, pushing down his anger. Samuel sighs, but otherwise doesn't acknowledge the statement.

"You don't know what you're part of, Dean. You know, you had ancestors hacking the heads off vamps on the Mayflower. What I'm saying is that we're your blood. And we're out there dying, trying to get in front of whatever this is. Maybe not the best time for golf," Samuel says after a moment.

"So, you're a hunter?" Gracilynn asks Gwen.

"Yeah," Gwen answers, putting down the magazine and looking over at Gracilynn. Gracilynn looks up as her dad walks by, glancing her way to make sure she's okay before heading outside.

"Is it hard being a female hunter around all the guys?" Gracilynn asks, reverting her attention back to Gwen.

"What do you mean?" Gwen asks.

"Well, I mean, you're a girl. Do they…I don't know, hold that against you?" Gracilynn asks. Gwen looks around the room but doesn't see any of the other Cambell's around.

"Yeah, kind of," she answers. "They make me hang back a lot to be a lookout."

"Right, a lookout," Gracilynn says sarcastically. Gwen smirks. "How do you get over that? I mean how do you prove to them that you can do everything they can and just because you're a girl doesn't mean you have to be stuck being the 'lookout'?"

"When you find that answer, let me know," Gwen says, giving Gracilynn a soft smile. The front door opens and Dean walks back inside.

"Three djinn are outside," he announces.

"Those djinn are just sitting out there, watching us. Everybody's got to clear out," Dean says to the Cambells.

"What?" Christian asks.

"They're not gonna come in here until the three of us are alone," Dean explains.

"So, what, I'm supposed to leave you here with no backup?" Samuel asks.

"Dean's right. They're smart. They'd wait till they weren't outnumbered," Sam says, backing his brother up.

"All right, we won't be far. You call when they come, you hear? All right, pack up. We're out of here," Samuel says, nodding to the group and the Cambell's begin clearing out.

"You okay?" Sam asks Dean in the kitchen after the Cambell's clear out.

"Oh, yeah," Dean says sarcastically.

"Yeah," Sam replies. Dean looks into the living room seeing Gracilynn browsing through a magazine, bored.

"No, this is... This is crazy. I mean, you, Grandpa. Whoever brought you back...," Dean says, but Sam interrupts him.

"They don't want to be found," Sam says.

"Yeah, I get that. But who are they, and what do they… what do they want? Why?" Dean asks.

"That's a good question," Sam says. Dean glances over at Gracilynn once more before asking his next question, satisfied she hasn't moved.

"Do you remember it?" Dean asks.

"What?"

"The cage," Dean clears up.

"Yeah," Sam responds.

"You want to…" Dean asks, leaving the sentence open.

"No," Sam replies bluntly.

"Well, if anybody can relate…"

"Dean, I don't want to talk about it. I'm back. I get to breathe fresh air, have a beer, hunt with my family, see you again. So why exactly would I want to think about Hell?" Sam says.

"And you really think…" Dean begins but as he looks out the window he sees his neighbor Sid and his wife being attacked by Djinn and he takes off running.

"Dean, they're already dead and you know it," Sam says, stopping his brother.

"This is happening because of me!" Dean yells, turning away from Sam and running out the door. Gracilynn's head whips around, hearing her dad take off, seeing him disappear out the door.

"Dean!" Sam yells. Gracilynn throws the magazine on the table and jumps up, heading for the door herself.

"Dad!" she yells right before she's yanked back by her arm. She looks behind her and sees her uncle. There is a sound behind them and they turn to see four Djinns enter through the back door.

"Son of a Bitch," Gracilynn mutters, pulling out her knife dipped in lamb's blood. Sam pulls his own out as well. The Djinn smirk and then, without further notice, attack them.

Sam takes the first one to arrive, shoving it into the wall. Gracilynn dodges the next one, attacking it as it passes her. The Djinn, however, sees this coming and turns to block it. He grabs Gracilynn and shoves her into the side of the stairs, intent on poisoning her. Gracilynn slams a knee into its thigh the same time she slams her forearm into the crook of its elbow, effectively dislodging the hand and sending it off balance. She quickly attacks, slamming the knife into the Djinn's stomach, twisting it for good measure. She gives the creature a hard shove as she simultaneously yanks out the knife. She turns around to find the next target only to see the Cambell's fighting the other two Djinn, Samuel and her uncle with one of them. Gracilynn looks back out the door and, glancing back at them one more time, she flings it open intent on going after her dad.

"I got her. Go get Dean," she hears Samuel say as she runs out the door. She hears footsteps behind her and she turns around to see her uncle running after her. It doesn't take much for his long legs to get him caught up to her and the two of them take off.

They reach the neighbor's house and Sam holds Gracilynn back, placing a finger to his lips. Gracilynn nods her head and the two of them quietly enter the house. They make their way through the halls, noticing the two dead bodies on the floor. As they round the corner, they see the last Djinn backing up from Dean's body on the floor. _No_ Gracilynn thinks to herself. She hears movement and looks over in time to see her uncle attack the Djinn, stabbing it in the back. She takes the opening and rushes to her dad's side, sliding to a stop on her knees next to him. She quickly feels for a pulse and sighs in relief when she finds one.

"Dad, wake up," Gracilynn says loudly, gently slapping the side of her dad's face. She hears a body thump and her uncle kneel down next to her. She slaps his face a little harder, calling his name louder. Dean's eyebrows furrow and he moans, slowly opening his eyes. Gracilynn grins. "Wakey wakey."

Dean opens his eyes fully and sees his daughter and brother looking down at him. He stifles a groan and pulls himself up to a seated position. Looking around the room, he sees the Djinn dead on the floor.

"You guys okay?" Dean asks.

"Fine," Gracilynn says. Dean's eyes grow wide, remembering what he had seen.

"Lisa? Ben?" he asks.

"Still at Uncle Bobby's," Gracilynn answers, helping her dad stand up. Dean nods his head.

"Did you get the others?" Dean asks Sam.

"Yeah," Sam answers, nodding his head.

"Good," Dean replies. "Let's get outta here."

"So, Samuel and the cous's?" Dean asks back at Lisa's house.

"Don't know. They left in a hurry. I'm meeting them back at their place. You, uh, you coming with me?" Sam asks. Gracilynn glances over at the two of them, hearing the question. She bites her lip, waiting for the answer.

"No. No, I'm going back for Lisa and Ben," Dean answers.

"I thought you said…" Sam reminds him.

"I did. I changed my mind," Dean replies.

"Look, I practically shoved you at them," Sam says.

"That's a funny way to put it, but all right," Dean cuts in.

"I'm just saying, I really wanted that for you. And when I told you to go, I…I thought... You could have it, you know? But now I'm not so sure. I mean, you got to consider the fact that you'll be putting them in danger if you go back," Sam points out. Gracilynn watches the exchange from the couch. She wanted to put her two sense in but didn't think she should but into this conversation.

"So, what, it's better to leave them alone, unprotected, and then they're not in danger? I did this to them. I made them vulnerable the moment I knocked on their door, and I can't undo that. But what I can do is go with the best option," Dean argues back.

"I hear you. I guess I just, wish you were coming, that's all," Sam says. Gracilynn smiles softly from her spot.

"Why?" Dean asks, causing the smile to leave Gracilynn's face and her eyebrows' to furrow.

"Don't be stupid," Sam says.

"No, I mean it. I mean, you know plenty of good hunters. I'm rusty. I did something seriously stupid going out there. I almost got us both killed. I almost got Gracie killed," Dean says, shooting a thumb behind him at his daughter, knowing she's listening to the conversation. Sam glances over at her.

"And that's exactly why I want you," Sam counters.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asks, clearly confused.

"You just went. You didn't hesitate. Because you care, and that's who you are. Me? I wouldn't even think to try," Sam says.

"Yes you would," Dean and Gracilynn say at the same time. Gracilynn clamps her jaw shut, not realizing she'd spoken until after she'd already said something. Dean and Sam look over at her, Dean with his eyebrow raised and an amused smirk on his lips.

"No, Dean. I'm telling you, it's just better with you around. That's all," Sam says, looking back over at his brother.

"Listen…" Dean says, meeting Sam's gaze and holding out a set of keys Gracilynn realizes are the Impalas. "She should be hunting. Take her."

"Thanks. Really. But I already got my car set up how I like it. I should hit the road," Sam says. Dean nods his head and sticks the keys back in his pocket.

"I'll walk you out,"Dean says, following his brother out the door, shutting it behind them. As they walk down the driveway, "Keep in touch, you hear?"

"'Course. It was really good to see you again, Dean," Sam says, climbing into his black 2010 Charger. Sam starts up the car and drives off.

As soon as the front door shuts behind them, Gracilynn runs to the dining room and looks out the window. She watches as her dad and uncle walk down the driveway. They exchange a few words and Sam climbs into his car. Gracilynn sucks in a breath, realizing it's the same car she saw driving off when she saw her uncle standing outside her school. And she did see him; she knew for certain she had now that she knew he'd been alive this whole time. She watches as he starts the car and drives off, feeling the emotion rise up inside her. Her dad stands there and watches until the car turns the corner and he can't see it anymore, just as she's doing. Dean turns around and walks back to the house, opening the door and walking in, shutting it behind him. Gracilynn looks up from the window and walks into his eye-line, studying him. Dean matches her gaze, knowing exactly what she's thinking, what she's feeling, because he was thinking and feeling the same thing.

"He's gone?" Gracilynn asks, more to the question than what an outsider would pick up on. Dean swallows around the lump in his throat.

"Yeah, I guess," he says. Gracilynn nods her head and looks back out the window. One of these days, she wasn't going to have to go through the pain of seeing her uncle drive away from them. She just hoped it would come soon.

Please review and let me know what ya'll thought! Oh, and I was told of this website where you can create clothes and stuff from Jessfairy88. So, I went on it and created boards to give you guys an idea of what Gracilynn's clothing would be like. If you are curious and want to check it out, here is the link: cgi/collection?id=2281778

Thanks for reading!


	5. When D'you Get So Smart?

Sorry about the chapter guys...When I updated I clicked one of my other uploaded chapters...oops. Here's the real chapter 5. :)

Okay, so I forgot to do something the last chapter. In the last chapter, the line where Samuel tells Dean, "We don't need a little girl along as luggage" I am giving full credit to Jessfairy88.

Now, on with the chapter!

Dean and Lisa are unpacking boxes in the kitchen of their new house. Ben's sitting at the table looking upset and Gracilynn is sitting on the other side of the table looking comfortable with her feet resting on a chair in front of her.

"What's up?" Lisa asks Ben. Gracilynn looks over at him, having noticed the sour mood herself.

"Nothing," Ben says sulkily.

"At least wait until you've checked the place out before you hate it. Open mind, that's all I ask," Lisa says understandingly.

"Yeah, all right," Ben says before standing up. "I'll be back."

Dean looks up to see Ben walking towards his bike.

"Oh, hey. Where's the fire?" he asks, stopping Ben in his tracks. Gracilynn hides a smirk, having heard that tone of voice far too often.

"Just going to check out the block," Ben explains. Dean searches his mind for an excuse.

"And let your mom unpack the kitchen by herself? Come on," Dean says.

"We'll go for lunch later. Scope out the neighborhood. Right?" Lisa says, directing the last statement towards Dean.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Dean says.

"Come on Ben," Gracilynn says, standing up from her chair, "You can help me grab the rest of the boxes."

"Yeah, okay," Ben says, following Gracilynn out into the garage.

"This sucks," Ben says moping. Gracilynn smiles, knowing exactly how Ben feels. "I can't even go out."

"Dad's just worried. He wants you to be safe," Gracilynn says.

"I can take care of myself," Ben argues.

"I know. And so can I but he does the same thing to me. Hell, he did the same thing to Uncle Sam and he's more capable of taking care of himself than either one of us. This is what dad does when he cares about people. He wants to keep them safe; protect them. Sometimes, he makes the wrong choices but he's doing his best. Just give him a break okay?" Gracilynn explains calmly.

"Yeah, okay," Ben says, picking up one of the boxes and following Gracilynn back into the house.

Gracilynn stops in the doorway to the garage, watching her dad fiddle around. After Lisa had come out here to talk to her dad she had gone upstairs to talk to Ben. It had taken awhile, but she had finally gotten the _whole_ story about why he was sulking in his room. She knew why Ben did it; he looked up to her dad. She also knew why her dad freaked out; he didn't want Ben to have this life. He was having a hard enough time with her being in this life. She takes a deep breath and walks over to her dad, jumping up onto the covered hood of the Impala and taking a seat. Her dad doesn't say anything, but she knows he knows she's there.

"So…what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Gracilynn asks. Dean looks over at her with a raised eyebrow. "What? It always seems to work for you."

Dean snorts, covering up a smirk in the process. He puts the tool in his hand back down and walks over to his daughter, leaning up against the door facing his daughter.

"You talked to Ben," Dean says. Gracilynn smiles. "How do you get that kid to tell you everything?"

"It's a mixture of Uncle Sam's 'I'm here for you; You can tell me anything' look and your 'I'll protect you; Tell me what's going on and I'll fix it' look. It works wonders," Gracilynn says, her smile turning to a smirk. She waits a moment but her dad doesn't say anything, so she continues. "Ya know, if you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control."

Dean's head snaps up from looking at the floor and meets her gaze.

"I know the whole Djinn thing really freaked you out," Gracilynn says earning a scoff from Dean. Gracilynn ignores it and continues on. "Hold on loosely dad."

"But don't let go right?" Dean says, glancing back over at her, meeting her smirk with one of his own.

"What can I say, the guy had a point," Gracilynn says. Dean sighs, knowing Gracilynn's right.

"When d'you get so smart?" Dean asks.

"Prolly around the same time I met Uncle Bobby," Gracilynn replies, grinning. She jumps down from the hood of the Impala. "Thank God for that."

"All right smart ass," Dean says, putting an arm around her shoulders which quickly turns into pulling her into a headlock.

"Dad!" Gracilynn complains, lightly punching her dad in the stomach. Dean chuckles but lets' go of her. Gracilynn shoots him a glare with no real heat behind it before she gives him a playful shove.

"Come on, Lisa and Ben are probly wondering where we are," Dean says, heading into the house through the adjoining door. Gracilynn smiles to herself, glad she was able to alleviate some of her dad's stress and follows him inside.

Gracilynn wakes up in her bed, her mouth feeling like it's filled with cotton. She takes a few test swallows but it doesn't help. She throws her blankets off her and climbs out of bed, walking sleepily down the stairs to the kitchen.

"You all right?" Gracilynn jumps, hearing a male voice being her.

"Son of a Bitch," she gasps, turning around and seeing her dad, eyebrow raised. "Uh…yeah, I'm fine. Need a drink, that's all."

Dean nods his head, not missing the jump and curse. He smirks, knowing he scared the crap out of his daughter. Gracilynn doesn't miss the smirk and rolls her eyes, turning back to the cupboard and pulling out a cup, filling it with water. She hears her dad's phone ring as she gulps down the liquid.

"Sam?" she hears her dad says. Gracilynn puts the cup on the counter and swivels around to face her dad, surprised to hear her uncle's name. "What's wrong?"

Gracilynn walks over to the table where her dad is and leans up against it, listening in to the conversation.

"_I'm working this job_," Gracilynn hears her uncle say on the other end of the line.

"Dude," Dean says, stepping away from Gracilynn. Gracilynn makes a face and follows her dad anyways.

"_Look, I just need you with me on this, okay?_" Sam says. Dean shoots Gracilynn a look and walks over to the kitchen counter.

"I'm out. I'm staying out," he says. Gracilynn doesn't let the look bother her and follows her dad again. She usually wouldn't do this, but dammit, she hadn't seen her uncle in a year.

"Dad, come on," Gracilynn whispers harshly. Dean waves her off and turns away from her.

"For what?" Dean asks.

"_Look, I'm thirty minutes away and I will drive to your door if you don't meet me_," Gracilynn hears her uncle say as she leans closer to the phone. Dean turns and faces her, giving her his stern fatherly look and, pointing a finger at her, mouth 'stay'.

"And what's so nuts that you gotta threaten a damn drive by?" Dean says, walking back over to the table. Gracilynn scowls but stays, watching as her dad listens to her uncle. Dean's face changes to a surprised look and he looks over at her. Gracilynn smirks knowing they were going to meet her uncle.

Dean and Gracilynn pull up next to Sam's car in Dean's truck. They had left shortly after Dean hung up with Sam. They had let Lisa know they were heading out and that they'd be back soon. Dean and Gracilynn climb out of the truck and walk over to where Sam is standing in front of his car.

"Where is it?" Dean asks.

"Strapped down in the back seat," Sam says. Dean walks over to the back door and peers into Sam's car. Gracilynn follows after him, peering in from behind him, seeing a baby in a car seat.

"Welcome to the party Guttenberg," Sam says.

"Aren't you supposed to have the car seat facing towards the back of the seat?" Gracilynn asks.

"I don't know, are you?" Dean asks.

"I have no clue," Sam replies.

"For a while anyways. I don't know how old they have to be in order to put them in like that," Gracilynn answers.

"How do you know all that?" Dean asks.

"Babyistting. You know, finding a monster _and_ taking care of and protecting a baby would be really hard for one person," Gracilynn says, looking pointedly are her dad. Dean says.

"Fine. We'll help. Just this one job though," Dean says.

"Of course," Gracilynn says.

"Let us go back and pack our stuff. Give Lisa a heads up," Dean says.

"Yeah, of course," Sam says. Dean and Gracilynn climb back in to the truck and take off back the way they came.

I have to say I'm really excited about the upcoming chapters! I loved Two and a Half Men and I had a blast writing it! Please review!


	6. Because They're My Family

Here's the next chapter for ya'll!

Gracilynn throws the last of her clothes in her bag, zipping it up. She hears a sound behind her and turns around to see Ben standing in her doorway.

"Hey," she says.

"You guys leaving?" he asks.

"Yeah, just for a little bit though," Gracilynn says, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "We'll be back in a few days."

She hears Ben shuffle into her room and looks over to see him taking a seat on her bed. She studies him for a moment before walking over. She sets her bag on the floor and takes a seat next to him.

"What's going on?" Gracilynn asks.

"You get to go," Ben says. Gracilynn sighs.

"Listen, Ben. First off, I fought tooth and nail to be able to go along on hunts. Second off, I'm dad's kid. You're not. He wouldn't take you to do something dangerous like this. And me? He's not gonna leave me for your mom to take care off. And lastly. Even if you could go, you don't want to," Gracilynn says.

"Yes I do," Ben argues.

"No. You don't," Gracilynn argues back. "This life? It's not fun. Going on hunts? It's dangerous. People get hurt…or killed. People you care about. Trust me. You don't want to do this."

"Then why are you doing it?" Ben counters.

"Because they're my family. And someone has to watch their asses when they decide to get into trouble," Gracilynn answers. Ben is still sulking. "'Sides you're gonna have more fun here. I mean, doesn't Brittany have that party tomorrow night?"

"Yeah," Ben says, trying to hide a smile.

"Trust me, you don't wanna miss that," Gracilynn says.

"Yeah, all right," Ben says, his smile appearing when Gracilynn bumps him with her shoulder.

"Listen to your mom," Gracilynn says, standing up and grabbing her bag, once again slinging it over her shoulder. She sends Ben a smile before exiting her room.

"Okay, show me," Dean says to Lisa.

"I've got it. We've been over this," Lisa says. Gracilynn walks into the kitchen and sets her bag down on the floor by the door, watching the scene before her.

"Humor me," Dean says.

"Load clip. Pull slide. Safety off. Safety on," Lisa says, performing the actions as she says them.

"And salt the windows and doors," Dean adds.

"Of course," Lisa says.

"Maybe I shouldn't go," Dean says, second guessing his decision.

"It's okay. You want to go, so go," Lisa says.

"You know what, Sam can handle this," Dean replies.

"Dad," Gracilynn groans.

"Or I could have Gracie stay with you," Dean says.

"Dad!" Gracilynn protests.

"Dean, no offense, but if you don't walk out that door, _I'm_ going to shoot you," Lisa says firmly. Gracilynn smirks. Dean sighs, grabbing his duffle and zipping it up before swinging it over his shoulder.

"I bet you're missing your ex right about now. The uh, the boring one? " Dean asks with a smirk.

"God, shut up. Just be careful, okay?" Lisa says. Dean gives her a kiss and guides Gracilynn out the door.

"See ya," Gracilynn says.

"Bye," Dean says.

"Bye. See ya," Lisa calls back, watching as the door closes.

Dean drives the truck up to Sam's car and shuts it off. Both he and Gracilynn climb out of the truck and head to the side of the truck bed. Dean pulls his duffle out of it and heads over towards Sam. Sam watches as, on the opposite side, Gracilynn climbs up the wheel and into the bed of the truck. She grabs her bag and climbs over the side, jumping to the ground and walking over to them.

"Alright, so what do we know about this thing?" Dean asks, directing Sam's attention away from Gracilynn and onto him.

"Well, uh, it was fast and it freaked when I cut it with silver," Sam says.

"So, not much," Gracilynn says. Sam shrugs his shoulders.

"Alright, so that narrows it down to..." Dean says.

"A ghoul? A zombie, a shifter, or about a dozen other things," Sam replies.

"I don't recall seeing babynapping in the profiles," Dean counters.

"Yeah, exactly," Sam says. Dean and Sam climb into the front seats of the car while Gracilynn climbs into the back.

"Well feel free to speak up if you know anything," Dean says, looking back at the baby. Sam turns the car on and there is a constant dinging sound.

"Seatbelt," Sam orders Dean.

"What am I, in third grade? A car should drive, not be a little bitch," Dean says.

"So should dad's but that never stopped you," Gracilynn says, just loud enough that her dad can hear. Dean turns around and glares at her.

"You can get out and go back home," Dean threatens.

"I'm good," Gracilynn says, putting her hands up in surrender.

"Seatbelt goes for you too Gracilynn," Sam says.

"Seriously? I'm not even in the front seat," Gracilynn complains, but puts her seatbelt on anyways. The baby cries out and the three Winchesters look over at it in time for the baby to fart.

"Yeah, don't take it personal," Dean says. He looks over at Sam. "Well, we need to get some supplies."

"I've got an arsenal in the trunk," Sam states.

"Not that kind," Dean says.

The Winchesters walk down the aisle at the grocery store, the baby in the baby seat at the front of the cart.

"Alright, I'm pretty sure that there's some kind of paste or jelly you're supposed to put on their butt," Dean says.

"Like uh... like that?" Sam says, pulling a box off the shelf.

"Yeah, grab that," Dean says. He grabs a box of diapers and throws it into the cart.

"So, how do you know all this?" Sam asks.

"Lisa has a baby niece, so I've been on a few milk runs," Dean says off-handedly.

"Huh," Sam says.

"Shut it," Dean demands.

"I just said 'huh'," Sam says..

"I just said said 'shut it'," Dean says.

"You two are unbelievable," Gracilynn says as the baby starts to fuss.

"Alright, we gotta get moving. We've got the waterworks in like, T-minus ten," Dean says.

"Yeah, okay," Sam says.

"Go," Dean says to Sam, grabbing items off the shelf and shoving them into Gracilynn's awaiting arms.

They are standing in a check-out line; the baby crying loudly. Customers are beginning to shoot them disapproving looks. Sam hurriedly loads groceries onto the counter while Dean tries to calm the baby down.

"Shh... shh... Come on, hang in there buddy. Hang in there, man," Dean coos.

"Dean, make it stop," Sam demands.

"How?" Dean asks, irritated.

"Everyone's staring at us like we're child abusers! Feed it!" Sam says.

"We fed it!" Dean replies.

"Then what?" Sam asks.

"I don't know. You think I speak baby? Maybe he needs a diaper change," Dean says.

"Oh God, I hope not," Sam says. Dean takes the baby out of the cart, holding it awkwardly. He turns it from side to side, trying to see if the baby needs a diaper change. Gracilynn smirks amusedly. The baby continues to cry and Dean looks at it and mimics it. Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"You guys are pitiful. And you," Gracilynn says, turning her gaze on her dad, "practically raised Uncle Sam?"

"I was _four_. When he was this age," Dean says defensively.

"That's no excuse," Gracilynn says smirking, earning a glare from her dad. "Just pretend it's Uncle Sam."

"Can we not pretend I'm a baby," Sam says.

"Pretending would mean it's not true," Gracilynn says, her smirk growing. A woman approaches them.

"Aw... what's the matter? What's his name?" she says, looking at the fussing baby.

"Bobby," Dean says.

"John," Sam answers in unison with Dean.

"Bobby John," Dean supplies.

"Hi, Bobby John. Aren't you handsome? May, I?" the woman says, holding her hands out.

"Oh, oh, uh…" Dean says. The woman takes Bobby John in her arms and the baby begins to settle down.

"I see now, Bobby John's a little wet. No offense, you two look exhausted. I don't mind. Lord knows I've changed a million diapers," the woman says with a smile. Gracilynn's gaze moves over the security camera behind them and she sees the woman's eyes flare. She smacks her dad's arm and he turns to look at her and she nods at the security camera, seeing the eye flare as well.

"That's a really nice offer, thank you, but um... I think we've got it," Dean says, trying to take the baby back.

"Oh, it's nothing. Happy to help," the woman says.

"Give me the baby before I stab you in your neck," Dean says, instantly going serious.

"Dean!" Sam yells. Dean points behind them and Sam looks at the security camera and Sam notices the eye flare. The Shapeshifter realizes she's been made and takes off with Bobby John. The three Winchesters bolt after her. Dean tries to grab her only to have the flesh of her skin peel off into his hands. Sam runs into her and grabs Bobby John.

"Gracilynn!" Sam yells as he runs outside. Gracilynn glances back at her dad before taking off after her uncle. They get to the car and Sam hands the baby over to her before opening the back door. Gracilynn climbs into the back seat and Sam shuts the door behind her. She puts Bobby John into the car seat as Sam climbs into the drivers' seat and starts up the car. Gracilynn quickly buckles the baby in as Sam squeals towards the front of the store. He arrives, slamming on the brakes, just as Dean runs out of the store. He opens the back door and climbs in next to Gracilynn, slamming the door behind him.

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" Dean yells. Sam stomps on the gas and squeals away. Gracilynn looks behind them, seeing the shapeshifter watch them leave. "The hell does a shifter want with a baby, anyway?"

"You tell me," Sam says.

"And how the hell did it find us?" Dean asks.

"You know, it could have been following me this whole time. Since the baby's house," Sam says.

"Alright, you know, we got to get off the road. Get Bobby John here someplace safe. Figure this thing out," Dean says. Bobby John fusses a little and Dean reaches across Gracilynn, "Okay, alright, shh, shh. Easy, kid."

"Ya know, that shapeshifter was kinda creepy," Gracilynn says.

"How's that?" Sam asks, looking in the rearview mirror.

"The way she was with Bobby John," Gracilynn says, "I mean she was acting like…well, like she cared for him or something."

"That is creepy," Dean says, looking at his daughter before sharing a look with his brother.

Please review and let me know what ya'll thought!


	7. Seriously? Baby Duty?

Here's the next chapter! I know it's short, but the next one will be longer, I promise!

Gracilynn sits at the table with her uncle, watching her dad change Bobby John's diaper with amusement. She was debating whether or not to tell him she knew how to do it, but figured she needed the entertainment.

"Okay, alright, you know what? I'll pay you money if you sit still," Dean says, causing Sam and Gracilynn to laugh. "This is like defusing an IED, with poop! Okay, alright, alright, alright, you are golden, Bobby John. Time to hit the hay."

Gracilynn watches as her dad picks up Bobby John, humming 'Smoke on the Water' as he carries him over to the crib. She feels a ping knowing she missed this part of her dad growing up. She listens as her dad continues to hum, calming the baby down. She hears her uncle's voice but doesn't make out the words, her mind flashing back months ago when Lisa's sister brought her baby over to visit.

_Gracilynn sits on the couch next to her dad, watching as Lisa's sister, Emily, swaddles her daughter. Lisa is sitting on the loveseat next to her, looking like the proud big sister she is. Emily picks Megan up and, holding her in her arms, begins singing softly and rocking the baby. _

_ "Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes…"_

_ Gracilynn's eyes dart to the mother and daughter as she listens to Emily singing Billy Joel's, "Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)". She feels her body tense, heartrate pick up, and her breathing shallow out. She forces a swallow around the lump in her throat that has formed. She stares at the mom and baby, the latter calming down into a peaceful sleep as the former continues to sing, eyes never leaving the baby's. She feels her dad's eyes on her but she can seem to muster the energy to even care. She feels the tears begin to prickle at her eyes. Before she starts crying in front of everyone, she jumps off the couch and bolts out the door. She hears her dad call her name but she keeps running. She doesn't stop until she gets to the park down the street, thanking anyone that'll listen that no one else was around. She realizes the tears she had been trying to keep at bay had already begun to fall. Someone lays a hand on her shoulder and she jumps, cursing herself for not hearing them. She swiftly turns around and sees her dad looking at her._

_ "Gracie?" he asks, not knowing what's going on or why his daughter is crying. _

_ "I'm fine. It's nothing," Gracilynn says, quickly wiping the tears from her face. _

_ "That didn't look like nothing," Dean says, calling her out. Gracilynn crosses her arms in front of her and looks towards the opposite side of the playground. "What was that all about?"_

_ "Nothing," Gracilynn says. "Can we just go back?"_

_ Gracilynn moves to walk past Dean but stops when he gently, but firmly, grabs her arm, letting her know that no, they were not going to just go back. Gracilynn forces another swallow past the lump, really not wanting to talk about this. Dean waits patiently, watching her profile. _

_ "Ya know, next Tuesday is when mom…" Gracilynn says, not looking at her dad. She feels a tear escape and fall down her cheek. Dean's jaw tightens. She had been extra moody and angry the past couple days and he figured it had something to do with that. "Ever since I was a baby…she, uh…she used to sing that song to me. Ya know, when she was trying to get me to fall asleep. Or to calm down."_

_ Dean watches as a couple more tears fall down his daughter face. Gracilynn sniffs and angrily wipes the tears away. Here she was supposed to be staying strong for her dad and she was blubbering like an idiot over a stupid song. _

_ "Hey, Jude," Dean says. Gracilynn looks over at her dad, confused._

_ "What?"_

_ "My…mom used to sing 'Hey, Jude' to us," Dean says. "Can't ever listen to the damn song the same way again."_

_ Dean gives her an understanding smile, which Gracilynn returns. She gives her dad a hug, wrapping her arms around her dad. Dean wraps his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. He doesn't miss the whispered, "Thanks", answering it with a slight squeeze._

_ "We should get back," Dean says._

_ "Okay," Gracilynn replies, reluctantly pulling away. She hadn't gotten a hug like that from her dad in a long time and she had missed it. She sends her dad a smile as they walk back to the house, his arm still around her shoulders, holding her close._

"Crap, I can't believe I missed this," Gracilynn hears her uncle says. She pulls herself out of her reverie and looks over at her uncle. Dean is quiet as Sam looks at the papers in front of him. Gracilynn knows something had happened between the two of them and silently kicks herself for drifting off.

"What?" Dean asks, shoving his thoughts to the back of his mind.

"This house on Elm. The mother was killed, baby was grabbed, but daddy wasn't living in the house at the time so he's still alive. What do you say we go and have a chat?" Sam says.

"I say let's," Dean replies. Dean looks down at Bobby John in the crib and Sam's gaze follows his brothers'. Their eyes look up, meeting each other's before moving over to Gracilynn.

"Serisously?" Gracilynn asks, already knowing what they're going to say. "Baby duty?"

"We can't take him with us," Dean says, already grabbing his coat and throwing it on. Gracilynn sighs, watching her uncle put his own coat on and walking out the door.

"Fine," she says, waving him off as the baby starts fussing. She watches as her dad sticks a finger in his drink on the table and reaches down into the crib. Bobby John quiets down.

"It's good, isn't it?" Dean says.

"You have got to be kidding me," Gracilynn mutters. Dean shoots her a smirk before walking out the door, shutting it behind him. Gracilynn goes over to the door and locks it, turning around and staring at the crib. "Well, this'll be fun."

Please review and let me know what you think!


	8. You and the Runt

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Gracilynn is lying on the bed looking through one of her old magazines. She hears a sound and Bobby John begins crying. She looks up from the magazine towards the crib, noticing blood and skin on the walk above the crib. Her eyes widen and she slowly climbs off the bed. She hears her cell phone ring and she picks it up, answering it as she makes her way to the crib.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"We talked to the father. He checks out. But the baby...," Dean says over the phone.

"Yeah," Gracilynn says, looking into the crib. She traps the phone between her ear and shoulder and she picks up Bobby John, holding him at arms' length and studying him.

"We think the shapeshifter is his dad," Dean says. Gracilynn's gaze catches the picture of the baby on the diaper box and it moves back to the baby, noticing they are one and the same.

"I seem to be getting that impression too," Gracilynn replies.

Gracilynn's holding Bobby John, who is crying loudly, and trying to calm him down. There is a loud knock on the door and her head turns to face it.

"Manager! Everything okay in there?" a voice yells through the door. _Shit!_

"Uh…yeah, no we're fine. Thanks. Good night," Gracilynn says, trying to get rid of the guy before he comes in.

"There's been complaints. Mind opening the door, ma'am?" the manager says. _Son of a Bitch!_

"Uh, it's really not a good time. I just got out of the shower…" Gracilynn says. She hears the door rattle and she quickly sets Bobby John back in the crib. She grabs her knife and stands on the side of the door. She hears the door unlock and sees a police officer enter the room. _Not a police officer, shapeshifter_ Gracilynn tells herself. She quickly attacks the shapeshifter and the two of them begin grappling. The shapeshifter shoves Gracilynn back.

"Get out of the way," he says, thinking she will be easily taken care of.

"Yeah, _that's_ not going to happen," Gracilynn says.

"That child should be with his father," the shifter says.

"Well, I gotta say, I'm not really seeing the family resemblance," Gracilynn replies, channeling her father.

"I'm not just talking about me. I'm talking about our father," the shapeshifter replies. Gracilynn's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion, but before she can think too much about it, the shifter attacks. Gracilynn moves over, punching him and slashing him in the face with her silver knife. The shifter attacks again and they continue to fight, and Gracilynn finds herself being thrown back on the ground. Suddenly, there is a gunshot and the shifter falls to the floor. Gracilynn looks up to see her uncle standing in the doorway, holding a gun. She climbs to her feet in time for her dad to shove past Sam and quickly makes his way to her, checking her over.

"You okay?" he asks, the worry evident in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gracilynn says. Dean looks over at the shapeshifter lying on the floor, blood pooling around him.

"Well, there goes our deposit."

Gracilynn looks over at Bobby John sleeping in the car seat next to her. She looks up at the front seat; her uncle's driving and her dad is sitting in the passenger seat.

"You know, it's pretty smart, actually. I mean, shifter poses as a guard for the security company to get near the house. Then it scopes out the fam," Sam says.

"Yeah, and then daddy takes off, and shifter becomes daddy. A few glasses of wine, shakes momma's trees, comes back in nine months to collect its prize," Dean says.

"I didn't know shifter's had babies," Gracilynn says.

"Yeah, you and me both," Sam replies, "I thought they were just freaks of nature, like X-Men style."

"You learn something new every day, huh?" Dean says.

"I've never seen a baby monster before," Sam says, glancing back at Bobby John. Gracilynn follows his gaze.

"Of course it's not really a monster. I mean, it's still just a baby. It's not its fault its dad's a shifter," Dean counters.

"Right, but it's a shifter, too," Sam responds.

"Still doesn't change the fact that we've got to look after this thing. I mean, what the hell are we going to do with it? We can't actually drop it off at an orphanage. They might get upset when it turns Asian," Dean thinks aloud.

"Samuel," Sam says.

"What?" Dean and Gracilynn ask.

"Samuel. He'll know what to do," Sam explains.

"You want to bring it to a bunch of hunters?" Dean asks, surprised.

"Not just hunters, Dean. They're our family," Sam points out.

"We don't know them," Dean counters.

"I do. Not every hunter is a head case. I mean, Samuel is actually a lot like you," Sam says.

"I'm a freaking head case," Dean says.

"That's for sure," Gracilynn replies with a smirk. Dean sends her a glare.

"Whatever happened to 'Children shouldn't speak unless spoken to'?" Dean asks.

"It died. Right along with 'Women are property'," Gracilynn says.

"Well, pitch a better idea then," Sam says, smirking at Gracilynn's comment. Dean doesn't say anything. "Great! Samuel it is, then."

"Well aren't you just the best disguise a monster ever wore?" Gwen says, approaching Dean holding Bobby John and stroking the baby. Dean shoots her a look. "I'm kidding, Dean. Relax."

Mark approaches Dean.

"What, you got something to say? No? Alright, well, you stand there and think at me," Dean says and Gracilynn snorts from her spot by her dad's side. She looks up as her uncle and Samuel enter the room.

"What's our next move?" Sam asks.

"I got a couple of ideas. Dean, let me see the little guy," Samuel says, reaching out for the baby.

"That's alright, I got him," Dean says, taking a slight step back.

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Samuel asks.

"You really don't want me to answer that question," Dean says, giving Samuel a look.

"Well I'm curious. Who exactly do you think we are?" Christian asks.

"Hunters," Dean says shortly.

"Funny, here I've been thinking we're family," Christian shoots back.

"It takes more than blood to make someone family," Gracilynn says, glaring at Christian, backing her dad up.

"Hey, let's not get worked up," Sam says, trying to keep the peace.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's not," Christian says.

"Here, Dean, its fine. Let me take him. It's okay," Sam says. Dean passes Bobby John to Sam who takes him and passes him to Samuel.

"Hey there. You're a big fella, aren't ya? Yeah. I haven't held one of these in a long time. Your mom was the tiniest. She was as bald as a cue ball," Samuel says, talking to the baby.

"Alright, so what the hell are we going to do with him?" Dean asks, eyeing Samuel and the baby.

"Raise him," Samuel says as if it was obvious. Gracilynn raises an eyebrow, not realizing her dad has done the same thing.

"Raise him?" Dean asks.

"What, you've got another suggestion?" Samuel challenges.

"But…" Dean says.

"It's dangerous out there for him, Dean," Samuel cuts him off.

"And what about in here? What are we gonna…study him? Poke at him?" Dean asks heatedly.

"Your mind goes straight to torture, Dean. Don't assume that for everyone," Christian replies. Gracilynn glares at him, not sure why, but not liking the comment.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Dean questions.

"Sorry, I heard about what you majored in down in the Pit," Christian says. Gracilynn takes a step forward, her glare going deadly.

"You really shouldn't talk about things you know nothing about," Gracilynn all but growls in a threatening tone.

"Oh, really? And _you're_ gonna do what?" Christian asks, insinuating at her age.

"You'd be surprised," Gracilynn says, her fingers twitching. Dean steps forward and lays a calming hand on his daughters shoulder.

"The hell is your problem, man?" Dean questions.

"You're starting to become a pain in my ass. You and the runt," Christian says, nodding to Gracilynn. This time Dean's glare turns deadly but before he can do anything, Sam intervenes.

"Christian, take it easy, man. He's my brother. She's my niece," Sam says, trying to keep everyone calm.

"We all done bristling up here, or what? Nobody's doing anything to him, Dean. When he's old enough, we throw it to him. He wants to volunteer to help out, that's fine," Samuel says. Gracilynn's glare never leaves Christian.

"Could be great," Mark says.

"How?" Dean asks.

"Think of the kind of hunter he'll grow up to be," Mark says.

"You all are joking, right? I mean, come on! You can't 'Angelina Jolie' a shapeshifter. Give me the baby," Dean says, reaching for the baby.

"Why can't you give me an inch of trust, Dean?" Sam asks.

"Maybe because you two are suddenly back from the dead, and I seem to be the only one who wants to know how the hell that happened!" Dean yells.

"You're not the only one who wants to know," Sam responds.

"There's just a little too much mystery with this family for me to get comfy," Dean admits.

"Then don't! But don't put it on us. All we're trying to do is invite you in. Christian?" Samuel says, then turns to Christian.

"Yeah?" Christian asks, leaving the stare down he'd been having with Gracilynn and turning to look at Samuel.

"You and Arlene, still no luck on the baby front?" Samuel asks.

"Not yet, no," Christian says, glancing at Dean.

"But you want one?" Samuel asks.

"Yeah, we do," Christian answers.

"Wait, hold on," Dean says, realizing what Samuel's going to do.

"It's okay, Dean. It's alright," Samuel says before handing Bobby John to Christian.

"Congrats. It's a boy, sometimes," Samuel says with a smirk. Christian laughs.

"The crap I do for this family," Christian says.

"You're kidding me, right?" Dean protests.

"Go to hell, Dean," Christian says, still looking at the baby.

"Great, now instead of growing up to be an adult shifter it can grow up to be an adult douchebag shifter," Gracilynn mutters loud enough for only her dad to hear. Dean stifles a smirk.

"Well, you have no business raising anything," Dean says instead.

"Why, Dean? Because he's a hunter?" Sam challenges. Dogs begin barking from outside.

"Check the back door," Samuel orders. Christian hands Bobby John to Samuel who in turn hands him to Dean.

"Downstairs, panic room. He'll be safe there. Go. Forget it, go! Now!" Samuel orders loudly. The three Winchesters rush down to the panic room hearing the others getting weapons ready before the door bangs open.

Dean, Sam, and Gracilynn pace in the panic room. Dean is holding Bobby John.

"Come on, Bobby John. You have got to keep quiet," Dean says, trying to calm the baby down. Gracilynn looks at the ceiling, hearing gunfire coming from upstairs.

"It does not sound good up there," Dean says.

"Alright, I'm going to go up. You two stay with the baby," Sam says, turning and heading to the door. Suddenly, the shapeshifter appears in the window looking like Sam. Sam pulls out his knife right before the shapeshifter tears the door off its' hinges. Sam attacks him, but the shapeshifter quickly over powers him and approaches Dean, Gracilynn and Bobby John. As he gets closer, he morphs into Dean without shedding his skin. Gracilynn steps to the side, trying to get out of the shifters way. At least, she hoped that what it thought she was doing.

"What the…" Dean says. Gracilynn comes up from behind and stabs the shifter in the back where the heart would be. The shifter turns around, giving her an amused look.

"Awesome," she says right before he hits her, sending her across the room and into the wall. The shapeshifter turns back around to face Dean.

"Give me the baby," the shifter demands.

"No way in hell," Dean says determinedly. The shapeshifter grabs Dean by the neck and raises him up the wall. He takes Bobby John and chokes Dean into unconsciousness. Gracilynn groans, looking over to see her dad fall to the floor. She slowly gets to her hands and knees, looking up to see the shifter looking like her dad still, exiting the panic room.

Please review and let me know what ya'll thought! Review help me write faster


	9. Thanks For That

Sorry for the slow update…here's a little longer chapter for you.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's not a myth now," Samuel says as Dean and Gracilynn approach him and Sam. Christian and Gwen are cleaning up the room from the fight.

"Yeah," Sam agrees.

"What the hell was that thing?" Dean asks.

"We think it may have been an Alpha," Samuel answers.

"An Alpha, like?" Dean asks.

"Like all monsters come from somewhere, right?" Sam answers.

"And you think that this one was…" Dean says, trailing off.

"The king shapeshifter. First one who spawned all the others… there's tons of lore about it," Samuel finishes for him.

"The first one?" Gracilynn asks.

"That's why it was so strong, and why nothing we had stopped it," Sam explains.

"And he said that he could find the baby anywhere. That he could feel it, like there's a connection. That's in the lore, too," Samuel supplies.

"What the hell does it want with babies, anyway?" Dean asks.

"A softball team? I got no clue," Samuel replies.

"You're prolly right," Gracilynn says. The three men turn to look at her. "Think about it, why to humans have babies. To have a family. Carry on their name. What if it wants babies for the same reason. To make his family bigger. So they don't go extinct. Shapeshifters aren't like werewolves or vampires. They can't bite someone and change them. How else are they going to survive."

"Great, well then how do we kill it?" Dean asks.

"I don't know if we can," Sam confesses.

"You know it's funny," Dean says, as the three Winchesters walk out of the Campbell's compound together.

"What's that?" Sam asks.

"You know, just before you ganked that shifter in the motel, he mentioned a father, which makes sense now because he meant the Alpha," Dean says as the three of them stop at Sam's car.

"Huh. Yeah, I guess so," Sam says.

"Did you hear him say that?" Dean asks.

"Uh, I don't know. Kind of a hot moment, you know? Why?" Sam inquires.

"Well, because if you heard him, then you knew the Alpha was out there," Dean states. Gracilynn watches the two of them, trying to figure out where her dad is going with this.

"Okay," Sam says, trying to figure out for himself where Dean is going with this.

"And if you knew the Alpha was out there then you knew he might come after the baby. In which case you were using the baby as bait. So was that the plan? To use the baby as bait?" Dean asks.

"Of course not. Dean, I just thought that Samuel's was the safest place. That's all," Sam answers.

"Right, of course," Dean says. Sam climbs into the car. Dean looks over at Gracilynn, catching her eye before climbing into the car himself. Gracilynn sighs. _Something was definitely going on here._ She opens her door, climbing into the backseat. _Why can't we ever catch a break._

Gracilynn lies on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. They got home yesterday and she had went to bed, falling right to sleep. Everything seemed normal this morning. They had breakfast, they watched TV, Ben went out on a bike ride. Laurie had called to see if she had wanted to go out. She had turned it down, said she was still tired. If she was honest with herself, though, it was because after being on these last couple hunts, _normal_ everyday things weren't fun anymore. She got a taste of what her life was with her dad and uncle again and she wanted it back. This life wasn't the same. She wasn't the same. And if she was honest with herself, she loved going on hunts. She loved doing what she was good at and no one judged her. And if she was honest with herself, she was worried about her uncle. Something was going on and she couldn't put her finger on it and she knew her dad was thinking the same thing. There is a knock at her door and she turns her head to see her dad standing in the doorway.

"Hey," Gracilynn says.

"Hey, can I come in?"Dean asks.

_"Hey, can I come in?" Dean asks. Gracilynn shrugs her shoulders. She had been a real Bitch this whole week. Her dad was getting angry with her because it was supposed to be Christmas week and she was laying it on hard when it came to Lisa. Truth was, she was getting angrier and angrier seeing her dad confide in Lisa. And with Christmas coming up, he was doing it more. She had layed off a little after her talk with Lisa last month but seeing her and her dad…she couldn't do it. Those old feelings were rising up in her again. Gracilynn stares at him, but doesn't answer. Dean sighs and walks into the room, closing the door behind him. He walks over and takes a seat on the edge of the bed, facing Gracilynn. "We need to talk."_

_ "Wow, there's a first," Gracilynn says sarcastically, staring at a spot on the wall. Dean rubs his hand through his hair, knowing this conversation was going to be a Bitch, which is why he was trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, Lisa didn't see that as an option. _

_ Listen, no offense, but you've been a real Bitch lately," Dean says. Gracilynn scoffs, but Dean holds up his hand, silencing her. "But I get it. Sam was my brother but he was also your uncle. You two were close and I know this whole…thing…was just as hard on you as it was me. Which is why I haven't really been coming to you with any of this stuff."_

_ Gracilynn doesn't say anything, but looks over and watches her dad, wondering why he's saying all of this. They, the two of them, hadn't talked about her uncle since he jumped and now her dad is initiating the conversation? She can see her dad force a swallow and knows this is difficult for him. _

_ "You're barely holding it together as it is, you don't need to try to hold me together too," Dean continues. Gracilynn goes to protest, but it dies on her lips from her dad's look. She takes in what he's said and realizes it's the closest she's heard him admit to her that he's not all right. "But, according to a certain female in this house, who by the way can be just as much of a Bitch as you when she wants to be. And if you ever tell her I said that I _will_ deny it. But, according to her, I can't keep doing that. You're my daughter and you were right there with me through the whole thing and locking you out is only making things worse."_

_ "Lisa said that?" Gracilynn asks, starting to feel guilty for being such a Bitch to her._

_ "Yeah, she did," Dean says. "And I'm not saying I'm gonna cry on your shoulder or anything because…well, that just ain't my thing. But, I'll try my best to include you. 'Sides, if I lock you out I'm not just preventing you from seeing my pain, but I'm preventing you from dealing with yours. And that isn't okay with me."_

_ "You serious?" Gracilynn asks._

_ "Yeah," Dean says. "What do you say we go grab a bite at the diner outta town and park the truck in the nearby field? Lay in the truck bed and watch the stars? Like old times?"_

_ "I don't know, it sound kinda chick-flick to me," Gracilynn says with a smirk. _

_ "Yeah, well, I allow myself one a year," Dean supplies. Gracilynn smiles the first genuine smile since, well, he's not sure when and he knows things will get better. _

_ "Thanks dad," Gracilynn whispers before giving him a quick hug. Dean squeezes her back and Gracilynn pulls away. "I've gotta do something first."_

_ "Okay," Dean says, "I'll meet you out in the truck."_

_ Gracilynn walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. She notices Lisa at the stove making dinner. She watches as she drops the spatula on the floor, not realizes it was so close to the edge of the counter. Gracilynn walks over and picks it up, handing it to Lisa._

_ "Listen," Gracilynn says, not realizing how hard this was going to be. Lisa takes the spatula from her, but doesn't turn away, waiting patiently for her to continue. "Thanks."_

_ Gracilynn looks up at her, sending her a small smile. Lisa returns it. Before she can say anything in return though, Gracilynn turns around and heads out the door, closing it behind her. Lisa smiles to herself, knowing she had finally gotten through to Dean and Gracilynn. She hears a noise and turns around to see Gracilynn walk back in, rolling her eyes and sighing. Gracilynn grabs her coat off the rack and, raising it in the air in goodbye, walks back out the door. Lisa chuckles to herself. _Yup, some things never change_ she thinks to herself before turning around and refocuses her attention back to dinner. _

Dean walks over and sits at the foot of the bed facing Gracilynn. Gracilynn sits up, wondering what's going on. She waits patiently for her dad to talk.

"I talked to Lisa," Dean says.

"'Bout what?" Gracilynn asks.

"Hunting," Dean says. Gracilynn gives him a confused look. "We've decided we're going to try something."

"Um…okay," Gracilynn says. "What's that?"

"We're hunting. We'll come back in between hunts," Dean explains.

"You think that'll work?" Gracilynn asks.

"Lisa thinks it's worth a shot. And…I think so too," Dean admits. Gracilynn nods her head.

"Okay," Gracilynn says, then she looks at her dad, a thought hitting her. "Does think mean we're driving the Impala?"

Dean looks at her a moment before a small smile plays on his lips.

"Yeah, it means we're driving the Impala," Dean says.

"Yes!" Gracilynn says, "God, I've missed her."

"You and me both," Dean says. "I gotta make a phone call. Why don't you start packing?"

"Okay, I gotta do something first," Gracilynn says, knowing her dad is calling her uncle.

"Okay," Dean replies, standing up from the bed and walking down the stairs.

Gracilynn stands in the doorway of Lisa and her dad's bedroom. Lisa's putting away clothes and her back is facing her. Gracilynn knocks on the door and Lisa turns around.

"Hey," Gracilynn says.

"Hey," Lisa returns, "I take it your dad talked to you?"

"Yeah," Gracilynn says, walking into the room and taking a seat in a chair across from the bed. She pulls her knees to her chest and watches as Lisa finishes putting clothes away. Lisa looks back at her.

"You all right?" she asks.

"Yeah, it's just…" Gracilynn begins but trails off.

"Just what?" Lisa prods.

"You know, before my uncle…left…he made me promise him that I would take care of dad," Gracilynn begins. Lisa puts the piles of shirts down and takes a seat at the end of her bed and faces Gracilynn, giving her full attention. "That was always his job. And he passed it on to me. And Uncle Sam and dad don't pass that job on to just anyone. They don't take that job lightly. So, I took it to heart and I treated it just as they would have. That's prolly why I was so pissed at you. Uncle Sam asked me to do one thing and I couldn't even do it. But you did."

"You did it too," Lisa says after a moment. "And you did a great job. I just picked up where your dad couldn't let you go at the time. But without you, he would've never came back."

"Thanks for that," Gracilynn says. Lisa gives her a smile and walks over, giving Gracilynn a hug. Gracilynn returns it, realizing that Lisa might not be her mom but she was glad she was in her life.

Gracilynn drops her bags on the floor of the garage and she walks up next to her dad whose standing staring at the still covered Impala. The two of them stare at it for a moment before Dean walks over and pulls the tarp off it, flying off the trunk. He smiles, his gaze roaming the sleek black body. Gracilynn feels her own smile appear her eyes moving from the front to the back. Dean looks back at her, sharing identical expressions.

"Ready?" he asks.

"I'm always ready," Gracilynn replies, both of their smiles growing.

I though the scene where Dean uncovers the Impala with "Smoke on the Water" playing in the background was awesome! I loved it!

Please review!


	10. Let's Keep It That Way

First off, I want to say thank you to MacRieve Girl for her review. I tried sending you a PM but it was turned off. I'm glad you like the flashbacks, those were my biggest worry for this story.

Secondly, I want to thank everyone else who's been reading, following, and reviewing my story. THANK YOU!

Anyways, back to the story!

Gracilynn lies on her bed, tired from their previous hunt. They had been back hunting with Uncle Sam for a month now and, not used to the constant go of a Hunter's life again, she had found herself dozing off more often. She hears her phone go off and reaches over and answers it.

"Hello," she mutters into the phone.

"Hey," a male voice says on the other line. Gracilynn feels a smile tug at her lips, realizing its Duke. They had kept in touch after they moved because of the Djinn incident. Of course, now that she's on the road, they hadn't talked as much.

"Hey. What's going on?" she asks.

"Not much. You?" he asks.

"Just waiting for my dad and uncle to get back," Gracilynn replies.

"You should come visit," Duke asks.

"Yeah," Gracilynn answers, knowing she probably wouldn't.

"Listen, Gracilynn. I still think we can make this work," Duke says.

"Duke…it's just…with my dad's job…he's on the road a lot. I'd be that absent girlfriend you come to hate because you can't do anything because of me but I'm never around. I just…" Gracilynn tries to explain.

"Yeah, but you're going to live with Lisa during the school year right?" Duke asks.

"I…" Gracilynn begins, but her dad and uncle walking in the door stops her. "They're back. I have to go."

Gracilynn hangs up the phone and climbs off the bed. Dean looks over at her, studying her for a moment. He sees her put her phone back in her pocket and by the look on her face, he thinks he knows who it was.

"Duke?" he asks. Gracilynn looks over at him, wondering how he knew.

"Yeah," she says.

"Everything all right?" Dean asks. Gracilynn shrugs. "Maybe we should stop by Cicero. You could visit."

"I don't know," Gracilynn says noncommittally, then changes the subject slightly. "Since when did you like Duke?"

"Never said I liked him," Dean says with a smirk before picking up his back and throwing it over his shoulder. Gracilynn sighs. She remembered when her dad first met Duke.

_"Ya know, you could've been a little nicer," Gracilynn says as she shuts the door behind her having walked Duke out. Dean shrugs._

_ "I thought I was nice," Dean says._

_ "Sitting across from him, staring at him all night is not nice. And that was when you weren't grilling him on his whole life story," Gracilynn counters. _

_ "I didn't trust him," Dean says._

_ "Why not?" Gracilynn asks._

_ "It was the name," Dean answers._

_ "Seriously?" Gracilynn asks, rolling her eyes._

_ "Duke? Really? You're boyfriends name is Duke? It sounds like a dog. I felt like I was talking to a damn dog," Dean says._

_ "Dad," Gracilynn warns._

_ "What?" Dean asks innocently. "Hey, if you wanna date a guy with a dog name, that's on you. But don't be mad if people start whistling and calling, 'Here boy!'"_

_ "You're unbelievable," Gracilynn says, rolling her eyes. She shakes her head and makes her way up to her room. _

Gracilynn sighs and picks up her bag, running out the door to catch up with her dad. Her uncle had found them another hunt up in Dalton, Massachusetts. Supposedly, their homicide and suicide toll was way higher that any in the whole state. Gracilynn throws her bag in the trunk and climbs into the back seat.

"So, what information have you found out?" Gracilynn asks her dad and uncle.

"Well, there are numerous murders where the victims had wounds made from an arrow. And they all died in the forest. Other than that, nothing. We'll have to talk to the families and the coroner," Sam says, looking at his laptop.

"Okay, let's go," Gracilynn says, heading towards the door.

"Whoa, hold on. What's the big hurry?" Dean says, turning around in the chair.

"It beats sitting around here doing nothing," Gracilynn says.

"You're the only one that was doing nothing," Dean points out. Gracilynn huffs. "Alright, we're coming."

The three Winchesters walk up to the house in front of them. They had just come from the coroner's office, finding out that each victim had indeed been struck by an arrow; however, what they didn't know was that each victim died from poison in their bloodstream. When asked, the coroner said he had no clue what kind of poison it was; he had never seen it before. Dean knocks on the door and a woman in her mid-thirties opens the door.

"Mrs. Duron?" Dean asks. The woman, who looks as if she'd been crying, nods her head. Dean and Sam hold up their badges. "I'm Agent Fortus. This is Agent Ferrer. We have some questions about your husband."

"Um…I already talked to the police," Mrs. Duron says.

"We took over the case," Sam says bluntly. Gracilynn raises an eyebrow at her uncle. Dean gives him a look.

"Um…okay," Mrs. Duron replies, stepping to the side and letting them in. She leads them into the living room and offers them her furniture. She gives Gracilynn a look which Gracilynn catches.

"Gracilynn Rose," Gracilynn provides, "I'm an intern shadowing Agents Fortus and Ferrer."

"Oh," Mrs. Duron says, nodding her head.

"Mrs. Duron, can you tell us what happened?" Dean asks.

"Well, my husband was going on a camping trip with a few of his buddies. They were only supposed to be gone a few days. He…uh…never came home. They found him and the other guys at their campsite," Mrs. Duron says, stopping to get control of herself once again. "The police said they were shot and poisoned."

"Do you remember anything else?" Sam asks. Mrs. Duron's head jolts in his direction.

"No. No," she says shaking her head. Gracilynn narrows her eyes. Mrs. Duron was definitely hiding something.

"Mrs. Duron," Gracilynn says, getting the woman's attention. "_Anything_ you can remember would be a great help."

Mrs. Duron nods her head, tears running down her face.

"It's my fault," she says.

"What's your fault?" Gracilynn says, laying a hand on her arm. Dean and Sam share a look and Dean shrugs his shoulders, letting his daughter continue.

"It's my fault Jeremy's dead," Mrs. Duron says.

"Why would you say that?" Gracilynn says.

"He called me. Said they were seeing things," Mrs. Duron says.

"What do you mean 'seeing things'?" Gracilynn asks.

"They said they were seeing a creature that was only about two and a half feet high, big ears and fingers, and grey skin. Said it would be there and then the next moment it wasn't, showing up some place else. I thought he was drunk; playing a joke on me. I told him to call me back when he was sober," Mrs. Duron says, new tears falling.

"Mrs. Duron. This wasn't your fault. Whoever killed your husband? It's his fault," Gracilynn says.

"What if he was telling the truth?" Mrs. Duron asks. "I just left him there to die."

"Mrs. Duron. The poison that killed your husband makes the person hallucinate. There was no creature. Just poison affecting his mind," Gracilynn assures. Dean's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline.

"Really?" Mrs. Duron asks hopefully.

"Yes, really," Gracilynn says.

"Thank you," Mrs. Duron says.

"We'll do everything we can to catch this guy," Dean says, nodding to the woman and shooing his daughter after his exiting brother.

"She was blaming herself dad. She shouldn't have to go through life blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault. It could destroy a person," Gracilynn says, shooting a look at her father.

"Ya know, you lied pretty fast and easy back there," Dean says changing the subject.

"I learned from the best," Gracilynn says, climbing in the car after her dad and uncle.

"You ever lie to me like that?" Dean asks with a warning in his tone.

"Are you kidding? I couldn't lie to you like that even if I tried. You _always_ seem to find it out. Or at least know something's going on," Gracilynn says, then to herself. "It's kinda pathetic really."

"Yeah, well let's keep it that way," Dean says, starting up the car and driving off to their hotel room.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! Reviews help me write faster.


	11. This Is By Far Your Worst Plan

Here's the next chapter for ya'll! Hope you all like it!

"I think I found what we're going up against," Sam says from in front of his computer. Dean and Gracilynn look up from the books their looking at.

"What?" they ask in unison.

"A Puckwudgie," Sam says. Gracilynn scrunches up her nose.

"Those are real?" Dean asks.

"Apparently so. They fit the description," Sam says.

"I thought they were just something on Harry Potter," Gracilynn says.

"When did you watch Harry Potter?" Dean asks.

"Uh…Ben made me," Gracilynn says.

"Right," Dean says, not believing her.

"So, how do we kill them?" Gracilynn asks, changing the subject.

"Ah…silver knife to the heart. Or you can drop them from 300 feet. Or you can stab them with their own arrows. Basically, there's nothing conclusive," Sam says, frustrated.

"Awesome," Gracilynn says.

"All right, well, I'll call Bobby see what he says," Dean says, rubbing a hand over his tired features and getting up from his chair. He pulls out his phone and makes the call. Gracilynn watches her uncle, still listening to her dad's conversation on the phone. Sam was still at the table looking at his computer, no doubt trying to find something that could help them. She studies him for a moment. He looked…different. She wasn't sure why but he did. He acted different too. And, even after the constant hunting, he didn't even look remotely tired. She knows she was still getting back into the swing of things and her uncle had been hunting for the past year, but at this pace, he definitely should be feeling somewhat tired. "All right, thanks Bobby."

Gracilynn looks over at her dad as he hangs up his phone and puts in back in his pocket. Sam looks away from his computer, diverting his attention to Dean as well.

"What'd he say?" Sam asks.

"Says he heard from another hunter that the only way to kill the damn things is with their own arrows," Dean says, "Which means we have to find a way to get the arrows."

"Oh, well, that should be easy. All we have to do is walk up to hundreds of miniature pissed up fighting Pit Bulls and take their arrows. Their _poisonous_ arrows. That they'll be shooting us with. Yeah, a piece of cake," Gracilynn says sarcastically.

"One of us can be bait," Sam offers.

"Seriously?" Gracilynn asks incredulously. "You're kidding right?"

"No it makes sense," Dean says, "I'll be bait and…"

"What? Dodge deadly poisonous arrows coming at you hoping you won't get hit?" Gracilynn says.

"And you guys can collect them and stab the little rats," Dean finishes, ignoring his daughters sarcasm.

"This is by far your worst plan. And you've come up with some really crappy plans before," Gracilynn says.

"You're one to talk," Dean replies.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gracilynn says defensively.

"Oh I don't know, but I seem to remember you going off on your own and slicing your wrists open just to summon a God," Dean accuses. Gracilynn glares at her dad, but keeps her mouth shut knowing he's right. "Okay, then. We've got a plan."

Dean, Sam, and Gracilynn walk through the woods. They had been traipsing through the forest for the past hour and they had seen nothing. Gracilynn looks ahead of her where her dad had been walking ahead of them, making him an easier target. She still didn't like the plan but what choice did they have really. The damn things weren't going to just hand over their arrows. Gracilynn continues walking but stops when she feels a hand on her arm. She looks over at her uncle whose looking what the forest. That's when she notices it. Silence. Her head turns to her dad who has also stopped, his body tense and ready to move if need be. There is a ping and an airy whistle and Gracilynn sees her dad dive out of the way of an oncoming arrow.

"Get the arrows. Keep a lookout and stab them if you see them," Sam says, bolting to the left where another arrow hits. Gracilynn stares after her uncle for a moment before hurrying to the right, making sure to stay in the shadows. She picks up an arrow on the ground and jogs over to where another one has fallen. She glances over at her dad who has taken refuge behind a tree, giving enough of himself that they still shoot at him. There is a sound behind her and Gracilynn turns around to see a grey creature standing in front of her. It's only about two or three feet tall but has big ears, fingers, and a large nose. Gracilynn watches it warily, shifting her grip on the arrow in her hand. The Puckwudgie bares its' teeth and lunges at her. Gracilynn moves to the side but the creature grabs her and begins climbing up her body. She grabs at it, flinging it into the tree. Before it can get up, she slams it into the tree again and thrusts the arrow into the creatures' heart. There is a loud screeching sound that emanates from its' mouth but soon quiets. Gracilynn yanks the arrow back out and turns around trying to look or more.

As luck would have it, or wouldn't have it depending how you look at it, a small group appears from the shadows. Gracilynn slowly bends down and picks up the other arrow she saw on the ground, standing slowly back up.

"Well, bring it on you Chihuahua screwing rats," Gracilynn says. The Puckwudgies, bare their teeth and hiss, charging at her. She kicks one and it flies into a tree, screeching. Another one grabs ahold of her leg while a third grabs her arm. Gracilynn slams the Puckwudgie on her arm into the nearby tree, shoving the arrow into its stomach. Ignoring the screech, she turns and stabs the Puckwudgie crawling up her leg in the head. She yanks it out and turns to see the other two charge at her. She braces herself for the attack but is caught off guard by the creature she kicked climbing onto her back.

"Son of a Bitch!" Gracilynn says. She grabs the things head and flips it over her shoulder, grunting in pain as the creatures' nails scratch her. She chucks it into the ground at her feet and pierces through the Puckwudgies heart with the arrow. She yanks it out and backpedals to the creature behind her, yanking out the arrow in it just in time to have the other two crawl on top of her. She impales the first one through the face. She feels a sharp pain in her leg and looks down to see the other creature raising its' head from where it bit her. She thrusts the remaining arrow through it' chin and into the head, groaning in pain. She grabs her leg just above where the thing bit her. She hears a sharp cry and realizes it's her dad. She retrieves her arrows and pushes herself up to a standing position, biting down on her cry of pain as she puts pressure on her injured leg. She looks around the tree she's leaning on and sees her dad lying on the ground, an arrow through his shoulder.

"Dad!" Gracilynn yells. She looks around the forest but doesn't see anything. She hears screeching coming from across from her and she assumes her uncle is taking care of more Puckwudgies. She hurries as fast as she can, doing a step, hop and skip move to try not to put weight on her leg. She reaches her dad and drops to her knees, taking in his appearance.

"Son of a Bitch," Dean grinds out, "That hurts."

"Okay, hold on dad. I…I gotta get the arrow out," Gracilynn says, feeling her panic well up inside her. She looks down at the arrow protruded out of her dad's shoulder. Her gaze moves to her dad, seeing the pain evident on his face. His eyes are closed and he's trying to control his breathing. She shifts her gaze back to the arrow and she bites her lip. She reaches out but her hand lingers above it.

"Hey," she hears her dad rasp out. She looks back up to her dad. "Break…Break the end off."

Gracilynn nods her head and she grips the end of the arrow, ready to break it off. There is another screech and she jumps, forgetting they were actually being attacked out here. Dean stifles a groan but Gracilynn hears it anyways.

"Sorry," she says.

"It's…okay," Dean says. He feels the poison working its way through his system. Gracilynn grabs the arrow again and breaks the feathered end off. Dean groans in pain, the movement having jerked the arrow inside him.

"Sorry," Gracilynn says.

"Okay, now…now you have…to push it…push it through," Dean says between breaths.

"What? No, I…I can't," Gracilynn says, looking at her dad and shaking her head.

"Gracie…you can…you have to," Dean says.

"I…dad I…" Gracilynn says.

"I trust you," Dean says firmly. Gracilynn studies his gaze for a moment before nodding her head. She forces her panic down and gets back control of herself.

"Okay…I can do this," Gracilynn says.

"Help me up," Dean says. Gracilynn helps her dad to a sitting position. Her breath hitches slightly seeing the pointed end of the arrow coming out the other side of her dad. She mentally shakes herself and focuses on what she has to do, taking a deep breath.

"Okay. On the count of three," Gracilynn says, grabbing the end of the arrow. Dean grips the grass underneath him with his right hand, preparing himself for the pain. "One…"

Gracilynn feels her dad grab her jacket with his other hand and she forces herself not to stop.

"Two…"

On two, Gracilynn pushes the arrow. Dean yells in pain as the arrow slides through the hole, rubbing against his muscles. As she nears the entry wound, Gracilynn grabs the arrow at the back and finishes pulls it through her dad's shoulder. Once out, Gracilynn sets it off on the side. Dean falls against her shoulder, panting and trying to get control of himself.

"You okay?" Gracilynn asks. Dean doesn't say anything but Gracilynn feels his head nod. There is a noise behind her and Gracilynn grabs the arrow and swivels around, intent on killing anything that gets too close. Sam appears out of the trees and Gracilynn visible relaxes as he approaches him. He takes in his family before him.

"Is he okay?" Sam asks.

"No," Gracilynn says, forcing a swallow. "He got hit with an arrow."

"We need to get him back to the hotel," Sam says. Gracilynn nods her head. She stands up, her leg almost giving out on her, forgetting about her wound. Sam eyes her. "You hurt?"

"I'm fine. It's just a bite," Gracilynn says.

"Okay, let's get him back to the hotel," Sam says. He helps Dean up and Gracilynn grabs the arrow, not knowing if they'll need it. She watches as Sam begins leading Dean the way towards the Impala. If she wasn't sure before, she was definitely sure now. Something was wrong with her uncle. He would've been panicking over her dad being shot. And he would've checked her wound and made sure she was okay, even if she did say she was fine. Something was going on and she intended to find out what.

Please review! Would love to know what ya'll think!


	12. Dean or Sam?

So, here's a new chapter…filled with more flashbacks and a buttload of angst

Gracilynn shuts the hotel door behind her as Sam helps Dean lie on the bed. Sam pulls out his knife and cuts Deans shirt to get better access to the wound.

"Gracilynn call Bobby," Sam says, not looking up from his brothers' shoulder. Gracilynn snaps out of her trance and quickly pulls out her phone and hits Bobby's speed dial.

"Hello?" Bobby's gruff voice sounds over the phone.

"Uncle Bobby?" Gracilynn says.

"Gracilynn?" Bobby asks, sitting up straighter having heard the fear in her voice. He knows that tone; it's the same one Sam and Dean have when one of the other Winchesters gets hurt bad.

"Dean or Sam?" Bobby asks.

"It's…it's dad. He got hit with an arrow," Gracilynn says, looking over where her dad is lying on the bed.

"Dammit," Bobby mutters.

"Uncle Bobby, we don't know how to stop it," Gracilynn pleads.

"Okay, hold on. Let me see what I can find," Bobby says, pulling out the book he had used earlier to help them. He flips to the section he needs and begins reading through it.  
"Uncle Bobby?" Gracilynn asks, leaving the real question hanging.

"He's gonna be fine kid. He'll pull through this," Bobby says, knowing exactly what Gracilynn is asking. "Okay, I found something. You got a pen and paper?"

Gracilynn looks around the room and grabs the pad of paper and pen of the table.

"Okay, go," Gracilynn says glancing over at her dad and uncle. Bobby begins reading off the list of ingredients and the directions. Gracilynn looks over what she wrote down. "Thanks Uncle Bobby."

"Keep me updated," Bobby says.

"I will," Gracilynn says, hanging up her phone. She turns to her uncle. "Okay, Uncle Bobby gave me a list of ingredients and instructions on what to do to counteract the poison."

"Let me see," Sam says, holding out his hand. Gracilynn gives him the paper and Sam looks it over. "Okay, one of us will grab this stuff and the other needs to stay here with Dean."

"Okay," Gracilynn says, watching her dad. Sam looks over at her, his gaze moving to her leg.

"You should stay here with that leg," Sam says, already heading towards the door. Gracilynn nods her head. "Keep his wound clean with Holy Water."

With that, Sam walks out the door. Gracilynn walks over and locks the door behind him. She rest her forehead on the door, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

_"If you want, you can put the car in the garage," Gracilynn hears Lisa say to her dad. Her dad had been talking about retiring the Impala and getting something else. He wasn't getting rid of it, but it was too hard to look at it. "You'd just have to clear a space for it."_

_ "Sounds good," Dean says, nodding his head. He stands up from the table. "I'll go get started on that."_

_ "Gracilynn you can come with me to the basement to grab some things for your room?" Lisa says. Gracilynn gaze leaves her dad's back and moves over to Lisa._

_ "Um…" Gracilynn starts, her eyes wandering back to where she'd last seen her dad. "I'm gonna go help dad."_

_ Gracilynn climbs off the couch and hurries out into the garage. Dean had already started moving some things around. He looks up when he hears footsteps enter the garage, noticing Gracilynn. _

_ "I…uh…though I'd come help you," Gracilynn says. Dean nods his head and Gracilynn begins moving boxes and things out of the way. She didn't know why, but the thought of being too far away from her dad was too overwhelming. It had only been a few days since…well, since their whole lives changed. Neither one of them say anything, just enjoy each others company._

Gracilynn hears a moan and she turns around heading back over to where her dad is lying on the bed. She pulls her dad's bag over towards her and grabs the Holy Water.

"Dad?" Gracilynn calls. Dean's eyebrows furrow before he opens his eyes to slits.

"Gracie? That you?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, it's me," Gracilynn answers, resting a hand on his uninjured shoulder. "Uncle Sam went to go get supplies. Uncle Bobby found something that will counteract the poison."

Dean nods his head, his face grimacing from the pain. Gracilynn bites her lip, not wanting to do what she has to, knowing it was going to be painful.

"What's wrong?" Dean asks, picking up on the action.

"I gotta wash the wound out," Gracilynn says, holding up the container filled with Holy Water.

"Okay," Dean says, bracing himself. Gracilynn pauses for a moment but then begins pouring the water over the wound. Dean arches in pain, stifling a yell as the wound begins fizzing and bubbling.

"Sorry," Gracilynn says, but forces herself to finish pouring the water into the wound. When she's done, she sets the bottle on the side table. Her dad's panting, trying to control the pain in his shoulder. "Dad?"

"I'm fine," Dean grinds out, not opening his eyes. Gracilynn nods her head even though he can't see it. She looks towards the door, hoping her uncle will be back soon.

_"I'm gonna head into town and pick up the parts I need for the truck," Dean says. He had just bought a Chevy and before he could drive it had to fix it up a little. Gracilynn looks up from where she's sitting at the table eating her lunch. _

_ "Okay," Lisa says from the kitchen. _

"_I'll come with you," Gracilynn says, jumping up from her seat. _

"_You haven't finished your lunch," Dean says, eyeing the sandwich on the table._

"_I'm not really hungry," Gracilynn says. Dean looks at the sandwich again, noticing only a quarter of it gone._

"_Kinda wasteful don't ya think? Why d'you make it then?" Dean asks._

"_I thought I was hungry. I guess I wasn't," Gracilynn says._

"_Dean, it's okay," Lisa says from where she's watching them from the counter. _

"_All right, I guess you can come," Dean says. Gracilynn grabs her plate, quickly setting it on the counter and rushes after her dad out the door._

"Hey, Gracie," Gracilynn's head pops over to where she sees her dad trying to sit up. She gently, but firmly forces him back down.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"You dazed… out on me for…for a minute," Dean says.

"I'm fine," Gracilynn says.

"You…you get hurt?" Dean asks, checking her over, wincing as pain shoots through his shoulder and down his body.

"It's fine," Gracilynn says again.

"So…you did get…hurt?" Dean asks.

"It's just a bite wound on my leg. It's fine," Gracilynn says again.

"You should…wash it out with…" Dean begins.

"Holy Water. Yeah," Gracilynn says, finishing the sentence.

"Go," Dean says, waving her towards his bag. Gracilynn bites her lip.

"I should wait till…"

"Now, Gracilynn," Dean says as firmly as he can. Gracilynn sighs but gets up and grabs the other bottle of Holy Water from her dad's bag. She doesn't go far though, just to the table in the room. She positions herself so she can still see her dad as she cleans out her wound. She pours the water on it, letting it drip into the empty garbage can, hissing at the burn. When she's done, she grabs the First Aid kit and wraps it up to prevent it from getting dirt in it. After putting everything away, Gracilynn goes back to her fathers' bed.

"There, happy?" Gracilynn says. Any retort from her dad was cut off by the door opening and Sam walking in. He is carrying a bag full of ingredients and sets it on the table.

"Gracilynn, I'm gonna need your help," he says, pulling items out of the bag.

"Okay," Gracilynn says, getting up and walking back over to the bed. Sam puts the instructions in the middle of the table and the two of them begin mixing the ingredients. They hear a muffling yell behind them and they turn around.

"S'mmy," Dean yells. Gracilynn's eyes grow big as her dad begins to convulse.

"Uncle Sammy?" she asks, fear soaking her question.

"Finish mixing," Sam orders, dropping his ingredients and rushing over to Dean's side.

I love hearing what ya'll have to say, so please hit that review button


	13. These Two Hands

_Gracilynn bounds down the stairs, stopping abruptly as she gets to the bottom of them. Her dad has his keys in his hand and his boots on and is heading towards the front door._

"_Where are you going?" she asks. Dean turns around._

"_Oh, hey. Didn't realize you were up," Dean says._

"_Couldn't sleep," Gracilynn says, remembering the nightmare, or memory however you wanted to look at it, she had ._

"_Oh. I'm just heading out to look for a job," Dean says._

"_I'll come," Gracilynn says already heading to her sneakers._

"_No, you should stay here," Dean says. Gracilynn looks up from where she's sitting ready to pull her shoes on._

"_Why?" _

"_Because I'm trying to look for work. You can't come in with me," Dean says._

"_I can wait in the car," Gracilynn says._

"_Or you can wait here," Dean replies. "Listen, I won't be long. Just stay here."_

"_But…" Gracilynn begins but is cut off by her dad shutting the door behind him. _

Gracilynn finishes mixing the ingredients and grabs the bowl and paper, rushing over to where her dad and uncle are. She hands the bowl to Sam who begins applying it to the wound.

"Gracilynn, say the incantation," Sam orders. Gracilynn holds up the paper and begins reading from it, her voice wavering slightly. She hears her dad yell in pain the same time she hears hissing. Once done, she looks up to see the wound bubbling and hissing, her eyes growing wide.

"Uncle Sam?"

"It's fine. It's supposed to happen. I think," he says, watching the wound. A few minutes later and the bubbling and hissing comes to a stop and Gracilynn lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She looks up at her dad's face, but he's out cold.

"Is he…?" Gracilynn asks. Sam reaches over and feels for a pulse.

"He's okay," Sam says, pulling his hand away. Gracilynn nods her head. Sam stands up and begins cleaning up.

_Gracilynn lies on the couch, reading a magazine. Or, at least, that's what she was pretending to do. Really, she was keeping an ear out for her dad's truck. It was lunch time and she was hoping he'd be home soon. Her ears perk up when she hears a familiar engine pull into the driveway and turn off. Heavy footsteps make their way up the door before it opens and Dean walks in._

"_Hey, did you find anything?" Lisa asks from the chair to Gracilynn left. _

"_Yeah, Sid was able to get me a job at the construction company he works at," Dean replies. Gracilynn watches him, silently checking him over. For once in her life, she was glad her dad was off so he didn't pick up on this. She couldn't help it. It was just a couple weeks ago when she saw her uncle jump into hell. When she saw her dad get beat to a pulp by Lucifer, who just so happened to be wearing her uncle. When she saw Bobby get killed. And Cas. Could they really blame her for being clingy? _

Gracilynn jerks back to the present when she feels someone pull something gout of her hand. She looks up and sees her uncle grabbing the paper. She sends him a strained smile.

"I'm gonna call Uncle Bobby," she says, taking out her phone and taking a seat in the chair next to her dad's bed. She presses the speed dial and puts the phone up to her ear.

"Everything turn out okay?" Bobby's voice asks over the receiver.

"I think so," Gracilynn replies. "It was painful and the wound bubbled and hissed, but it stopped shortly after."

"He awake?" Bobby asks.

"No," Gracilynn says.

"Didn't think so but thought I'd ask anyways," Bobby says, hearing the fear in Gracilynn voice again and wanting to calm her down. "You keep an eye on him and let me know if anything changes okay?"

"I will. Thanks Uncle Bobby," Gracilynn says before hanging up the phone. Gracilynn hears clacking of keys behind her and she turns to see her uncle on his computer. "What are you doing?"

Gracilynn gets out of the chair and walks over to the table, putting her phone back into her pocket. She peers over Sam's shoulder and looks at his screen. Her eyebrows furrow and she can feel her fear turning into anger.

"A job? You're looking up a job?" Gracilynn asks, looking at her uncle incredulously.

"Uh, yeah," Sam says, "I figured while we were sitting here…"

"Dad almost died!" Gracilynn yells, cutting him off. "He almost died and your sitting here looking for another job?!"

"I'm not saying we're going right now, I'm just looking," Sam says.

"See that's where this is all wrong," Gracilynn says testily. "Sam wouldn't be doing this. _Our_ Sam would be planting his ass in a chair on the other side of dad's bed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asks, furrowing his own eyebrows.

"It means, you've been off since we bumped into you! And this?" Gracilynn says, waving at the computer, "Just cements it."

_"Why are you even still in school?" the teacher says from his desk. He had just asked her a question and Gracilynn didn't know the answer. Truth was, she wasn't even paying attention and her teacher knew it. "You obviously don't care."_

_ Gracilynn feels her anger boil up. She wasn't necessarily mad at the teacher, but between her uncle and her dad and Lisa and Ben, she just couldn't take it anymore. She just snapped and said more than she wanted to._

_ "Because I promised my uncle before he died saving our asses!" Gracilynn yells, standing up from her seat and grabbing her belongings. She stalks out the door and rounds the corner of the hall. She leans back against the wall and closes her eyes. She didn't mean to say it. Fact is, no one knew even a little lie about her uncle except he wasn't around. Gracilynn takes a deep breath and pushes herself off the wall and makes her way down the hall._

"I don't know what's going on with you but I do know what I want," Gracilynn says angrily.

"What's that?" Sam asks.

"The uncle that made me promise to finish school. To take care of myself. And to do his damn job for him!" Gracilynn yells, then more quietly. "Taking care of his big brother."

Sam watches her for a moment before closing his laptop.

"Okay, not more researching. Not until Dean's back to normal," Sam says. Gracilynn watches as he gets out of his chair and brings it over to the other side of the bed and takes a seat. Satisfied, Gracilynn joins him, sitting in her recently vacated seat. Part of her wanted to yell at him and get him to tell her what was going on with him but the other part was too tired and just wanted to take the win. Gracilynn sighs and sinks down in the chair, exhaustion overtaking her.

_ "You're a hard person to find," Dean says, walking into the garage and seeing his daughter lying on the covered hood of the Impala. _

_ "Yeah, cause I've _never_ come to this spot before," Gracilynn says sarcastically. Dean bites his tongue, not wanting to get into an argument. He was too tired to get into an argument. Gracilynn looks over at him. "Let's face it dad. You knew I was here. You just didn't want to come out here. You were hoping I you waited long enough I'd come back inside."_

_ Dean sighs._

_ "Yeah, I guess you're right," Dean says, leaning up against the side of the car. " Listen, we need to talk."_

_ "'Bout?" Gracilynn asks._

_ "Your whole Linus and blanket thing you got going on?" Dean says glancing at her sideways. _

_ "You watch Charlie Brown?" Gracilynn asks._

_ "Don't change the subject," Dean says, knowing exactly what she's doing. Gracilynn sighs. "I'm not going anywhere."_

_ "That's funny cause that's exactly what Uncle Sam always told me," Gracilynn says, not missing her fathers' flinch at the sound of his brothers' name. "Look where that ended up."_

_ "I know you're freaking out right now, but you gotta trust me. I'm not going anywhere. Nothing gonna happen to me," Dean says, turning to look directly at his daughter._

_ "And how do you know that?" Gracilynn asks. Dean sends her a smirk. A forced one, but one all the same._

_ "I have the perfect weapon right here," Dean says, holding up his hands, "These two hands."_

_ "You're the only person I know of that can go from Charlie Brown to Strangers on a Train in the same conversation," Gracilynn says, forcing her own smile. She sobers up quickly though. "Okay, I'll try to stop being Linus. I'll be more like Lucy."_

_ Dean makes a face._

_ "That way when you piss me off, I can make you kick the football Charlie Brown," Gracilynn says, hopping down from the Impala. She looks over at her dad, seeing the pained expression which she returns with a cocky smirk before heading back into the house._

Gracilynn stirs in her sleep. She slowly wakes up and stretches, taking in her surroundings. Sam looks over at her from where he was focusing his attention on Dean.

"He's starting to wake up," Sam says. Gracilynn's attention shoots to her dad who groans and flickers his eyes open. Gracilynn feels a big grin develop on her face.

"Hey dad," Gracilynn says. Dean looks over at her, taking in the relieved smile on her face. He feels one appear on his face as well. He sits up with some help from Sam and looks back over at his daughter.

"What'd I tell ya?" Dean says with a smirk, holding up two hands. Gracilynn's smile grows, getting exactly what he's telling her.

"He's doing better," Gracilynn says over the phone to Bobby. "He's still a little sore but he's back to his normal, annoying, nagging self."

"Yeah?" Bobby asks.

"I should check that leg again before we take off," Dean says in the background. Bobby can practically hear Gracilynn roll her eyes.

"Dad it's _fine_. You've already checked like fifteen times," Gracilynn complains. Bobby chuckles.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Bobby says.

"I gotta go Uncle Bobby. I'm gonna need two hands to fend off Mama Bear over here," Gracilynn says.

"All right. You three take care of yerselves," Bobby says.

"We will," Gracilynn says. "Dad! I told you it was fine. Lay off will ya."

Bobby chuckles to himself again and hangs up the phone. Some things never changed.


	14. He Looks Constipated

Here's a quick update for ya'll!

Gracilynn walks over to where her dad is standing by the Impala. He's talking on the phone to someone but she's not quite sure who yet.

"Hey…so, uh, I'm actually not far. I'm about a night's drive," Dean says into the phone. _Lisa then_ Gracilynn thinks to herself. "Well, there's some stuff I gotta do here first."

Gracilynn tries to suppress a smirk. She hopes they're talking about going to visit Lisa and Ben.

"But I was thinkin' that, uh, I'll wrap up here, and, y'know, make sure I'm not followed...I'll have to take side streets, and I'd have to come at night…" Dean rambles. Dean waits a moment, listening to what Lisa has to say. Whatever she says causes him to smile. "Yeah."

Gracilynn looks behind her to see her uncle approaching them. She looks back over at her dad, who's putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Hey," Dean says to Sam.

"What're you so stoked about?" Sam asks, noticing the grin.

"What? Nothin'. Whattya got?" Dean answers, deflecting the question expertly. Sam hands Dean and Gracilynn a pile of Missing Person fliers which they begin to go through.

"Six girls in seven days, which is more disappearances than this city has seen in over a year…all about the same age," Sam explains as they do so.

"And cute," Dean says. Sam scoffs. "Hey, ice cream comes in lots of flavors, Sam."

"Dude, they're my age dad," Gracilynn says with a disgusted look.

"Oh," Dean says, thinking about this for a moment.

"Right. Sure," Sam says to Dean. "Well, Gracilynn's right. Half a dozen girls, late teens, a shower away from greatness. Sounds like a profile. I mean, what else they got in common?"

"Well...six directions to go here. Pick a number," Dean says.

"Seven. Another call just came in today," Sam says.

"We could just split up," Gracilynn offers. Dean gives her a look. "What?"

"In case you haven't noticed, you kinda fit the profile," Dean says. Gracilynn scowls, knowing where this is heading. "You aren't going anywhere by yourself."

_Yup, and there it is_, Gracilynn thinks. She sighs and climbs into the Impala followed by her dad and uncle.

"Kristin's a good kid. A little naive, sure... You try to be a good parent. Girls are hard," Kristin's father says. They had arrived five minutes ago with Gracilynn, again, playing an intern.

"I know the feeling," Dean says, shooting a look at Gracilynn. Kristin's dad notices and smiles sadly.

"Right. Well, we'd just like to find your daughter," Sam says, earning a look from Gracilynn and Dean. Kristin's father pauses before answering.

"Last door on the left," he says, nodding in the direction of his daughters' room.

"Thanks," Dean says, glancing upstairs. The three of them ascend the stairs and Sam glances back at the father. "Whaddya think he was talking about?"

"Drugs?" Sam answers quietly, unsure himself. Dean shrugs, giving Gracilynn a glance before they enter Kristin's room. Dean flips the light on and the three Winchesters look around the room, eyebrows raised and inwardly deciding if they should continue looking or run away now. The walls are painted red and are covered in vampire posters. There are vampire and gothic accessories throughout the room, even vampire pillows lying on the bed.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Gracilynn says unbelievably.

"Oh, it is _so_ much worse," Dean adds, looking disgusted. Sam snorts.

"Vampires?" he says.

"Ah, these aren't vampires, man, these…" Dean says, trying to find the right word for them. Sam shuts the door and Gracilynn jumps back slightly. There is a full sized cut-out of a teen heart throb vampire attached to the back of it. "...These are douche bags."

"I second that," Gracilynn says, turning away from the repulsive poster.

"Yeah," Sam agrees. The three of them glace around the room, not sure what to do.

"Wow," Dean says, still trying to grasp this whole concept.

"Hm," Sam says, going to the bed and starting to flip back the covers. He looks under a pillow and finds a red laptop computer. "Aha. All right."

Sam moves over to her desk and takes a seat, opening the computer up.

"Let's see what we can see. All right," Sam says. Dean turns to his daughter.

"I am _so_ glad you didn't turn out like this," he says quietly. Sam turns the computer on and there is a screaming noise and a picture of an intense looking vampire pops up. The three Winchesters flinch

"Th…that's just...uncomfortable," Sam says.

"What's _he_ so bummed out about?" Dean asks, making a face.

"He looks constipated," Gracilynn says.

"That'll do it," Dean adds. Sam begins pressing keys and a password prompt pops up on the screen. Dean looks down and sees a paperback book titled "My Summer Blood". On the cover is an illustration of a teenaged girl in a white nightgown, asleep on the bed. There is a pale skinned handsome male vampire stands next to the open moonlit window staring down at her. Dean makes another face. "Look at this. He's _watching_ her sleep. How is that not rape-y?"

"I gotta concentrate here, Dean," Sam says, trying to ignore his brother. Gracilynn looks at the cover herself, looking freaked out.

"I thought Cas watching us sleep was creepy. This…this is just…disturbing," Gracilynn says.

"Keep thinking that way will ya," Dean says, picking up the book and flipping through the pages. Sam tries "Dracula" as the password and the computer screams again. Gracilynn shoots it a glare.

"He could hear the blood rushing inside her, almost taste it. He tried desperately to control himself..." Dean reads from the book. Sam tries another password and the computer screams again. ""...Romero knew their love was impossible… Romero? Really?"

"Dean. Shut up," Sam says annoyed.

"This is a national bestseller," Dean says.

"How is that _possible_?" Gracilynn asks. Dean sets the book down and picks up one of the pillows. Sam tries another password but fails.

"Hey, try, uh…" Dean says, thinking, "Lautner."

Gracilynn raises an eyebrow at her dad. Sam types it in then thinks about it.

"Wait…he's a werewolf. How do you even know who that is?" Sam asks.

"How do _you_ even know who that is?" Gracilynn asks her uncle.

"Are you kidding me? That kid's everywhere. It's a freakin' nightmare," Dean answers.

"Tell me about it. You don't have to go to school and hear about it _all_ the time. Between him and Robert Pattinson I don't know which is worse," Gracilynn says.

"Hey, how many T's are there in Pattins…" Sam begins but stops as the laptop accepts the password. "That's it. We're in! Ha!"

He begins looking through a Facebook-style page. Gracilynn peers over his shoulder, receiving a look from him, but she ignores it.

"All right," Sam says.

"Well?" Dean asks, joining his brother and daughter at the desk.

"Well, her inbox is full, from some guy claiming to be a vampire," Sam says.

"A _real_ vampire?" Dean asks.

"Screw naïve, this chick's just plain _stupid_," Gracilynn says, rolling her eyes.

"Well, uh... 'I can only meet you at night...I don't trust myself with you...the call of your blood is too strong...' Vampires fishing for victims?" Sam says.

"Probably just a human mouth-breather, right?" Dean asks.

"On the other hand… talk about easy prey," Sam says.

"For actual vamps," Dean adds.

"Yeah. I mean, these chicks are just throwing themselves at you. All you gotta do is...I dunno. Write bad poetry," Sam says, reading through more e-mails.

"Huh!" Dean says.

"Wow. This guy wanted to meet her at a place called The Black Rose," Sam says, earning an eye roll from both Dean and Gracilynn.

"Gimme a break…" Dean says.

"Just reporting the news," Sam says.

"It's probably just your standard-issue perv, right?" Dean asks. Sam shrugs his shoulder, closing the laptop.

"There's only one way to find out," Sam says. Gracilynn gives the room one last disgusted look before following her dad and uncle out into the hall, trying to figure out how all of this is _normal_.

"_Hello?" the gruff voice says over the phone._

"_Hey, Uncle Bobby," Gracilynn says._

"_Gracilynn? You alright? Your daddy alright?" Bobby asks, thinking worst case scenario._

"_Yeah, we're fine," Gracilynn says, looking out across the park. She didn't want her dad to know she was calling Bobby so she'd walked to the park and had taken a seat on one of the benches. Bobby waits a moment, giving her time to continue. He didn't miss the tone in her voice, the one she uses when she needs to talk about something but doesn't know how to do it._

"_Your daddy know your calling me?" Bobby asks when she doesn't say anything, already knowing the answer. _

"_He's back at the house," Gracilynn says. Bobby nods his head, taking the answer for what it is, a confession._

"_How's everything going?" Bobby asks, feeling as though he's pulling teeth. Although it doesn't surprise him, Dean and Sam were the same way and the best people to get it out of them was one of the other two Winchesters. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option right now so he was going to have to make do._

"_I don't know…" Gracilynn says, shrugging her shoulders._

"_You don't know?" Bobby asks._

"_It's just…"_

"_It's just what?" Bobby prods._

"_It's so boring. It's the same thing day in and day out. I wake up and eat breakfast. I go to school. I come home and do my homework. I eat dinner, watch TV, go to bed, and do the same damn thing the next day. There's no…I don't know…excitement?" Gracilynn explains._

"_You mean I could die at any moment excitement," Bobby says. Gracilynn sighs._

"_Listen I know…" Gracilynn begins, trailing off when someone walks by, continuing once they're out of ear shot, "I know hunting is dangerous but…at least we helped people. And I was good at it. And…"_

"_And what?"_

"_And dad wasn't being something he's not," Gracilynn says softly. "He…doesn't want this. He'd rather be out hunting. The only reason he's doing this is because Uncle Sam made him promise."_

"_Yeah, he did," Bobby responds. "Because he wanted you two to be safe. To have a life where you grow up and have a family. Have kids. Hell, have grandkids. Listen, you've lived this life before. You just have to think back and remember it."_

"_Yeah, I guess," Gracilynn says._

"_You meet any new friends?" _

"_Uh…no not really," Gracilynn says._

"_Well, there's your problem. Go make friends. Go out, do something. Dammit, get into trouble. Be a teenager," Bobby says._

"_It's kinda hard to be a teenager when a quarter of what you've seen would put these kids in a mental institution," Gracilynn argues._

"_Just try. That's all I'm asking," Bobby says._

"_Fine, I'll try," Gracilynn says, "Thanks Uncle Bobby."_

"_Anytime kid," Bobby replies before hanging up the phone._

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! I love hearing what you all have to say and it gets me excited to write more!


	15. Like Hell He Will!

What with this stupid hiatus for the next three weeks, I'm sure I'll be writing like crazy so updates will probably be quick. Hope you guys like it!

"Well, you wanted Emo chicks, I think we hit Ground Zero," Dean says as the three of them sit at a table in The Black Rose. A waitress in a rubber suit gives them their drinks. "Thank you. You think she wears all that rubber to the beach?"

Sam begins to canvass the bar as Gracilynn rolls her eyes at her dad's comment, taking a sip of her pop. She had tried convincing her dad to let her use a fake ID but he seemed pretty adamant about her not drinking any alcohol.

"When was the last time we had a beer together, anyway?" Dean asks Sam. Sam nods his head in agreement before noticing a teenaged boy wearing a black coat and a dog collar chatting up a teenaged girl.

"There," Sam says, nodding his head in the direction of the teenagers. "Whaddya think? He's hittin' on her hard enough. Real?"

"I dunno. It's hard to tell," Dean answers, looking around the bar and sees two other younger men talking to girls. "Hey, we got multiple choice."

"Great. Three of them and two of us," Sam says, shooting Dean a look.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Gracilynn says.

"We've already been over this Gracilynn," Dean says, "You aren't going anywhere by yourself."

Gracilynn sighs in frustration, sitting back in her seat and crossing her arms. They all look over to see one of the men kiss another guy.

"Okay. Make that two of them," Dean says after taking a moment to process it. Sam notices the teenager with the dog collar escorting the girl he was talking to outside.

"One's on the move," Sam says.

"And so is the other one," Gracilynn says, noticing the other guy leaving as well.

"All right. You go with Efron, we got Bieber," Dean says. Sam gets up and disappears through a doorway.

"Ya know we should really look into Beiber. I mean he's gotta be _something_ supernatural," Gracilynn says, following her dad.

"Hey, no complaints here. You find proof of that and I'll be right behind you," Dean says. They walk down a hall where the two teenagers disappear through a door at the end of it. "Just stay close."

Gracilynn rolls her eyes but stays behind her dad anyways. She hears laughing behind them and turns around to see another teenager and a guy appear and go the opposite way.

"Son of a Bitch," Gracilynn mutters. "Dad."

"What?" Dean says, hearing his daughter's curse and the slight pull on his jacket. He turns around and sees the same thing Gracilynn saw. "Son of a Bitch."

"I'll take them," Gracilynn says, already moving in the opposite direction.

"Whoa, hang on a minute," Dean says, pulling her back. "What are you doing?"

"Dad, we've got this scumbag over here and one out there. You can't go after both of them at the same time," Gracilynn argues.

"Gracilynn…"

"Dad…"

Gracilynn stares at her dad, who returns it with one of his own. Gracilynn can see the war going on inside her dad's head. Dean scowls before finally saying something, letting Gracilynn know she won.

"Fine, but if things get hairy, you get outta there, you hear me?" Dean says forcefully.

"I will," Gracilynn says, not trying to push her luck. She turns around and heads in the direction she saw the couple go.

"Hey," Dean says, causing Gracilynn to turn around. "Just…be careful."

"I will," Gracilynn replies before taking off at a jog to catch up.

Gracilynn rounds the corner and rams into someone, stumbling back and falling onto her butt. She looks up and sees the couple she was chasing after looking at her with twin looks of surprise on their face.

"Uh…hi," Gracilynn says, shooting them a smile before quickly standing up. She looks between the girl and the guy before saying anything. "Isn't she kinda young for you?"

"Well, yeah, considering she's my sister," the guy says.

"Oh…" Gracilynn says, "She is?"

"Yeah," the guy says. Gracilynn studies the two in front of her.

"She looks pretty wasted," she says.

"Which is why I got woken up in the middle of the night to come pick her up," the guy says.

"Isn't he just the best brother in the world?" the girl says far too cheerfully, giving her older brother a hug. The guy rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"You're lucky I answered the phone and it wasn't dad," the guy says.

"Uh…well, I better go," Gracilynn says quickly, shooting them another smile before turning around and running back the way she came. She wanted to get back to her dad as fast as she could. She gets to the door and slams it open. She doesn't realize, though, there's a slight raise in the door jam and trips over it, sprawling out onto the ground of the alley. Gracilynn hears a commotion to her left and looks up to see what it is but can't see anything with a dumpster in her way. She hears footsteps and her head turns to her left to see her uncle run a few steps before stopping. She sees his mouth cork up into a small smirk. Gracilynn scurries to her feet and looks at what her uncle is staring at only to see a vampire smear his blood into her dad's mouth.

"Dad!" Gracilynn shouts. Sam looks over and sees her, snapping out of his trance.

"No!" Sam yells, running towards Dean and the vampire. Sam makes a few strikes with his machete but the vampire dodges them. He laughs and waves bye, running away and climbing over a wall, disappearing from their vision.

"Sammy," Dean says weakly from the spot on the ground he fell to. Gracilynn runs over, shoving her uncle out of the way and falling to her knees next to her dad.

"Dad?" she asks.

"Gracie? You okay?" Dean says softly.

"I'm fine. Come on, we gotta get you outta here," she says, helping Dean up and leading him towards the Impala. Gracilynn shoots Sam a wary glance as she passes him but doesn't say anything. First things first, they had to get her dad back to their hotel room.

Gracilynn leans against the wall as Sam closes the curtains. She looks over at her dad who has his hand holding his head. She knows normal sounds of the city are amplified in his head now.

"Oh my God, what is that _sound_?" Dean asks, irritated.

"What sound, Dean?" Sam asks, not hearing anything. Dean pushes over the lamp and it crashes to the floor. He hears the siren and the honk of a passing fire truck getting louder. He can hear the muffled sounds of the TV next door and he pounds on the door.

"Hey, c'mon, keep it down, dammit!" Dean yells.

"Dad," Gracilynn says, pushing herself off the wall. Dean turns around and winces at the light coming from the fixture on the ceiling.

"Please, _please_ shut that off...geez...," Dean practically begs. Gracilynn reaches over and flicks the light switch, turning the ceiling light off.

"Dean...you should sit down...," Sam says. Gracilynn narrows her eyes at her uncle.

"_You_ sit down," Dean says. Gracilynn watches as her dad sits on the edge of one of the beds and cradles his head in his hands. "Of all the ways to die, I never thought I'd be going out like this."

"Whoa, hold on dad. No one's gonna 'go out'," Gracilynn says, taking a few steps towards her dad.

"It's _that_…" Dean says, finally figuring out what the mechanical ticking sound is that has been grating on his nerves. He looks over at the alarm clock on the bedside table, getting up from his position on the bed.

"What?" Sam and Gracilynn ask. Dean rips the alarm clock out of the wall, resulting in sparks shooting out. Gracilynn flinches and Dean turns to face them.

"Samuel is gonna kill me when he gets here," Dean says.

"Like hell he will!" Gracilynn says.

"No, Dean, he's not!" Sam yells at the same time.

"Yes he is, cuz I'm gonna ask him to because you two won't do it," Dean says.

"Okay, just hold on a second..." Sam says, trying to keep Dean calm.

"For what, huh? Look at me!" Dean argues.

"We can figure this out!" Sam argues back.

"How?!" Dean asks. Sam doesn't have an answer to this question. Dean's suddenly begins picking up two sets of heartbeats, a faster paced one and a slow, calm paced one. Dean looks over at Gracilynn who looks freaked out, even though she's trying to hide it. _Okay, so hers is obviously the faster paced one. Which means…_ Dean's gaze moves over to Sam.

"Why aren't you freaked out? Why is Gracie the only one?" Dean asks. Gracilynn looks over at her uncle, her eyes narrowing again, remembering what she saw back in the alley.

"Of course I am!" Sam yells.

"Really? Cuz I can hear your heartbeat, and it's pretty damned steady," Dean accuses. Gracilynn's eyes swiftly move over to her dad.

"That's cause I'm...I'm _trying_ to remain calm. Dean, look…Samuel will know what to do," Sam replies.

"C'mon, man, I'm a monster, okay? This is _not_ a problem that you spit-ball. We gotta deal with this before I hurt somebody," Dean argues.

"Yeah, well, we ain't gonna _deal_ with it by killing you," Gracilynn says determinedly. Dean gives his daughter a look before sighing and holding his head, groaning.

"How's it feel?" Sam asks.

"_Now_? Now you wanna talk about my feelings?" Dean asks annoyed.

"No, I mean...physically," Sam clarifies.

"How do you _think_ it feels? Not good!" Dean answers before crossing over to the bathroom. Gracilynn takes a step forward.

"Where you goin'?" Sam asks.

"Bathroom, okay? News flash, Mr. Wizard: vampires pee!" Dean says angrily, causing Gracilynn to stop in her tracks. Dean storms into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Gracilynn stares at the bathroom door, biting her lip. She hears the faucet turn on and the water running. Sighing, she turns towards her uncle, giving him a stern look.

"What the hell happened in the alley?" Gracilynn whispers in an angry, accusing tone. Sam sighs.

"You saw the same thing I did. Dean got in a fight with the vampire and he…" Sam begins.

"I'm _not_ talking about that and you know that," Gracilynn says. Sam opens his mouth to answer but stops, his head turning towards the bathroom having heard weird sounds coming from it. Gracilynn looks towards it as well, having heard the same sounds. Sam walks over to the door and knocks on it.

"Dean," Sam says before opening the door. Gracilynn realizes it moments before her uncle does. Her dad had taken off. Sam notices the window is open, the blinds askew. "Dammit."

Sam turns around to let his niece know what had happened only to find the room empty. His gaze moves to the door and sees it slightly ajar.

"Dammit."

Dean turns the corner in the hotel parking lot, heading to the front of the building and towards the road. He slams on the brakes and stares at the figure in front of him.

"Dammit," he grumbles. He turns of the Impala and climbs out of the car, leaving the door open and resting his arm on the top of the vehicle.

"Going somewhere dad," Gracilynn says, arms folding and standing directly in front of the Impala, determination set on her face.

"Go back to the room Gracilynn," Dean says firmly.

"And what? Hope you don't do anything stupid?" Gracilynn says.

"Move. Now."

"Don't think so dad," Gracilynn says, not budging from her spot.

"_Dammit_ Gracilynn," Dean growls. Gracilynn stays put, waiting for her dad to realize she wasn't going to let him win this one. Dean grumbles. "Get in the damn car."

Dean climbs back in to the drivers' seat and shuts the door. Gracilynn smirks. Dean starts the car up and Gracilynn quickly gets in to the drivers' seat. Dean drives to the road and stops for a moment. Gracilynn looks over at him.

"Dad?" she asks, thinking he had changed his mind.

"If I try anything…if I go after them…you…You have to kill me," Dean says, looking over at his daughter.

"I'm not gonna kill you dad," Gracilynn argues.

"You wanna come with me? Then you have to do this. Otherwise I'm dragging your ass out of the car and handcuffing you to a damn pole," Dean says, the same set face his daughter had moments before. Gracilynn bites her lip, but realizes she might've won the last stare down but no way was her dad letting her win this one.

"Okay," Gracilynn forces out. Dean nods his head.

"Good."

Please review!


	16. Behave Yourself Okay

So, here's the next chapter. Hope ya'll like it!

Gracilynn stands in the hallway, leaning up against the wall, machete in hand. She wasn't going to bring it but the fact her dad shoved it into her hands decided the issue. They were at Lisa's house and it scared her. Her dad thought he was a goner and was now making his rounds…again. Gracilynn sighs, letting her head drop against the wall behind her. She closes her eyes listening to the murmuring coming from the closed door in front of her. The murmured voices begin to get louder and Gracilynn lifts her head up to listen to what they are saying. Her blood runs cold with the words that come out of her dad's mouth next.

"I'm talking about my _life_. It's ugly...and it's violent...and I'm gonna die _soon_," Dean says.

"Just tell me. Just tell me what the hell is going on...," Lisa's upset voice filters through.

"Gracilynn?" Gracilynn looks to her right to see a sleepy Ben standing in the hallway.

"Ben, hey," Gracilynn says, pushing off from the wall and walking over to him.

"Is Dean here too?" Ben asks.

"Yeah, listen…" Gracilynn begins but is cut off by her dad flinging open the door and fleeing into the hallway, covering his mouth with a hand.

"Dean…?" Ben says, confused.

"Dad?"

"Ben, just stay there," Dean orders.

"Gracilynn said you…" Ben says, walking towards Dean.

"Ben…" Gracilynn says, reaching out grab him.

"I said stay back!" Dean yells, pushing Ben away from him and into the wall. Something shoves Dean hard towards the stairs, causing Dean to stumble.

"We need to go. Now!" Gracilynn commands. She gives Dean another hard shove. Dean realizes what has happened and rushes out of the house. Gracilynn looks back at Lisa who has pulled Ben towards her and gives them an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry," Gracilynn says. "He didn't mean it. Things are really messed to hell right now. He would never hurt…"

Lisa and Ben don't say anything and Gracilynn continues after taking a big breath.

"He would never hurt family," Gracilynn finishes before turning and jogging down the stairs and out to the car.

_Gracilynn grabs her plate of food and begins heading towards the living room only to be stopped by Lisa's voice. Gracilynn rolls her eyes but turns around to look at her. _

_ "I figured we'd eat at the table as a family," Lisa says._

_ "Well, that's nice…but, we're not really a _family_ are we?" Gracilynn says._

_ "Gracilynn," Dean warns. Gracilynn huffs._

_ "Fine," she says, walking over to the table and taking a seat. She begins stabbing her fork into her food roughly, earning another look from her father. "What?"_

_ "We could use a little less attitude," Dean says._

_ "Oh, I'm sorry. Last I knew, you earned being called family. Just because we live in the same damn house doesn't mean we're a family," Gracilynn spits out. She drops her fork on her plate and gets up. "I'm going for a walk."_

_ "Gracilynn!" Dean yells after her, but the only answer he gets is the front door slamming shut. He looks over at Lisa. "Sorry 'bout that."_

_ "No, it was my fault," Lisa says._

_ "How was it your fault?" Dean asks._

_ "I shouldn't have said 'family'. I know it's a touchy subject for her and I wasn't thinking," Lisa says._

_ "Yeah, well, she didn't have to say what she did. And there was no need to slam the door," Dean says, sighing. _

_ "Is she gonna be grounded? 'Cause I would be grounded," Ben says._

_ "Ben," Lisa warns. "Why don't you go eat your dinner in your room."_

_ "Really? Awesome," Ben says, grabbing his plate and taking off to his bedroom. _

_ Gracilynn walks down the sidewalk, trying to calm herself down. She knew what she had said was mean but they weren't their family. Uncle Sam was their family. Uncle Bobby. Gracilynn sighs and pulls out her phone. She scrolls through the names and, taking a deep breath, hits the send button. She puts the phone to her ear as she takes a seat on a bench. She closes her eyes and forces the emotions that come with the voice on the other end of the line back down._

_ "This is Sam, I can't make it to the phone right now so leave a message," the voicemail says. Gracilynn ends the call and puts her phone back in her pocket. She takes a stuttered breath and pulls her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. _

"Can't keep track of your brother now? Or your niece?" Samuel asks as he and Sam enter the motel room.

"Well, I didn't think he'd just… And I didn't think she'd go after him," Sam defends.

"He's not himself, Sam. He's a monster and he's hungry. And your niece is alone with him. You gotta be prepared to do the right thing," Samuel points out.

"I told you he'd kill me when he showed up," Dean says. Sam and Samuel looks over to see Dean hunched over a dresser in the dark. They immediately pull out their machetes.

"Come on guys, let's take a chill pill for a minute," Gracilynn says from her position by the wall. Sam glances over at her before looking back at Dean.

"Did you feed?" he asks him.

"I went to say goodbye to Lisa...which, for the record, was a lousy idea," Dean answers.

"Which is why I went with him," Gracilynn says to Sam, although her gaze is on her father.

"Dean, answer the question," Samuel says sternly.

"You can relax, I didn't "drink" anyone. If you don't believe me you can ask Gracie," Dean says.

"Thank God," Samuel sighs in relief.

"But, I came close," Dean says, then, removes his jacket. "All right. Do it."

"Okay...if you insist..." Sam says. Gracilynn sharply sucks in a breath of air. "…or I can just turn you back."

Gracilynn's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What?" Dean asks, confused himself.

"What?!" Sam says in turn. Samuel gives Sam an odd look but then turns his attention to Dean. Gracilynn doesn't miss this and stores it for future reference.

"I didn't drive all this way to kill you, Dean…I'm here to_ save_ you," Sam says.

The four of them are sitting at a table and Samuel opens his journal and slides it over to Dean and Gracilynn.

"That's my grandfather's journal. Cure's an old Campbell recipe, kind of like the soup. No one's tried it since God knows. What I hear...this stuff is a bad trip," Samuel says.

"Awesome," Dean and Gracilynn say in unison.

"Hey… the cure is good. But a lot of this is on _you_. You drink, you're done. It won't work. I'm talking one drop of human blood," Sam says firmly.

"I got it," Dean says.

"Do you? Because you _will_ feed. It's a matter of time," Sam says. Dean slams the book shut.

"What else do we need?" Dean asks.

"Some stuff we got, some we gotta get. Trickiest thing on the list: blood of the fang that turned ya," Samuel says.

"That guy was _huge_," Sam says.

"There's nothing in the recipe about 'easy'," Samuel replies.

"I can get it," Dean says, rising from his seat.

"Wait, you're just gonna walk into the nest?" Gracilynn asks.

"Well, I'm one of them, aren't I? So all I gotta do is get in there, get the guy alone, and...shoot him with so much dead man's blood that he'll think he's rushing a fraternity," Dean explains.

"I should come with you," Sam says.

"If he's coming, I'm coming," Gracilynn quickly pipes in.

"No. Dude, you guys _reek_. You're like walking hamburgers. I gotta do this solo," Dean says.

"Yeah, 'cause that always ends well," Gracilynn mutters.

"Yeah, except …we haven't been able to find him yet," Sam points out.

"No problem. I can smell him. Two miles east of town. You guys get the other crap and meet me there," Dean says, putting on his jacket. Dean heads towards the door and the other three rise.

"Dean," Samuel says, holding out a large syringe filled with blood. "It's dead man's blood. Now, there's enough there to drop a linebacker, and then some."

Dean slowly reaches for it, smelling the blood inside of it.

"Good luck son," Samuel says. Dean nods his head, placing the syringe in his pocket. He looks over at Gracilynn and nods his head towards the door. She looks over at Sam who begins getting supplies together. Gracilynn nods her head and follows her dad out the door.

"Behave yourself okay?" Dean says once they're out in the hall and the doors shut. "And watch out…"

"Seriously dad?" Gracilynn says, cutting him off. "I getting sick and tired of the 'I'm-gonna-die-so-watch-out-for yourself-and-my-brother' speeches. How's this one for ya? Don't go caving and drink blood and get your ass back here, okay?"

Dean nods his head, a slight smirk on his face.

"I'd give you hug but…" Dean says, trailing off.

"You can give me one when you're cured," Gracilynn replies.

"Sounds good," Dean agrees before turning around and leaving. Gracilynn sighs and heads back in to the room, stopping at hearing the conversation she walked in to.

"Huh. That's strange, cuz if you _had_ known, it'd be almost like you _let_ him get turned. Get a man on the inside? Help us find that alpha vamp we've been looking for?" Samuel accuses. There is an uncomfortable pause.

"Are you serious? You think I'd do something like that, risk my own brother?" Sam challenges, waiting a pause. "What's wrong with _you_?"

Samuel stares at Sam, almost boring holes into him. Gracilynn takes in everything she's seeing and hearing.

"Look, I'm just relieved we can fix him," Sam says. He finishes gathering all of the supplies and walks past Gracilynn and out of the room. Gracilynn looks over at Samuel, sharing a look with him. Gracilynn doesn't need to hear the first part of the conversation to put two and two together.

"Did he know about the cure?" she asks heatedly.

"I could've sworn I told him about it," Samuel says. Gracilynn's face hardens and she takes off through the door and after her uncle.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"Uncle Sam!" Gracilynn yells, trying to get her uncle's attention as she runs after him. "Uncle Sam!"

Gracilynn finally reaches the car, her anger beginning to bubble over. She tries to push it down, give him the benefit of the doubt, but she knows what she saw and mix that with what she just heard…that was becoming harder and harder to do.

"Sam!" Gracilynn yells angrily. Sam closes his eyes, knowing his niece heard what Samuel said back there and really didn't want to get into this. He lets out a breath and turns around. Only what greets him sends him reeling.

Gracilynn watches as her uncle tenses for a moment, which only makes her angrier. Why would he need to tense up if he didn't do anything wrong? When he turns around though, her body moves on its' own accord and she doesn't realize she has full on punched her uncle in the face until she's already done it and he's stumbled back a couple steps.

"Jesus Gracilynn, what the hell?" Sam says, raising a hand to his nose. Gracilynn quickly gets over her shock at her outburst and brings her anger back up.

"What the hell?! That's all you have to say?! You let dad get turned! All just so you can finish a damn hunt! Pretty sure _I'm _ the one that's supposed to say 'What the hell?'," Gracilynn yells.

"Gracilynn, it's not what you think," Sam says.

"Damn right it's not what I think! Because I _know_ that's what happened! I _know_ what I saw! You watched dad get infected! You didn't react until it was already done," Gracilynn accuses.

"How would you know that unless you did the same thing?" Sam accuses right back.

"Don't you _dare_ turn this around on me! This is all you. I came out of the bar and saw you watching something. By the time I figured out what it was it was already done," Gracilynn says. Sam is silent.

"Gracilynn, I'm your uncle. Dean's brother. Why would I do that?" Sam asks. Gracilynn thinks for a minute before answering.

"Because…you're not _our_ Sam. I don't know what you are, but you aren't ours," Gracilynn says.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Gracilynn and Sam turn to see Samuel standing on the sidewalk.

"No," Sam says, "Let's go."

Gracilynn sends Sam a glare but climbs into the back seat of the car. She was right. There _was_ something wrong with her uncle. Because _her_ uncle would _never_ have done something like this. One thing was for sure, she couldn't tell her dad. He'd be devastated. On the other hand, if this wasn't the real Sam, _not_ telling him could be dangerous. Gracilynn sighs and looks out the window. _And I didn't want a normal life. I wanted my life to be exciting. Well, Gracilynn, is this exciting enough for you?_

Please review! Love hearing what everyone thinks!


	17. Shake On It

Here's the next chapter! There's not a lot of new stuff, most of the chapter is one giant of a flashback. Hope ya'll enjoy it!

_Dean peers in Gracilynn's bedroom, seeing her curled up in her bed fast asleep. A small smile tugs at his lips and he shuts the door, making his way to Ben's room. Gracilynn opens her eyes and lifts her head up, listening as her dad checks on Ben before going into his and Lisa's room. Once she's certain he's in bed, she climbs out of her bed fully clothed. She grabs her sneakers and quietly walks out of her room and down the stairs in socked feet. She gets to the front door and quietly, slowly opens it and shuts it behind her, carefully locking it behind her. _

_ After putting her shoes on, she takes off at a jog down the street into town. She had made some friends at school and they were having a party tonight. She was meeting a few of them down at the park a block over from her house and was going to hitch a ride with them. This whole normal life thing was a real bore and she figured going to this party would give her a little excitement. Besides, Bobby did tell her to make some friends. _

_ "Hey," Gracilynn says as she approaches a small group of kids._

_ "Hey Gracilynn," Jenn says. "You ready?"_

_ "Yep," she says._

_ "Oh, and Nick was able to get some beer for everyone," Jenn says._

_ "Awesome," Gracilynn says, climbing into the back seat of the car. If her dad ever found out about this, he'd ground her for a year. _

_ "Hey, you guys made it," Nick says with a grin, carrying beers over and handing one to each of the four teenagers. _

_ "We had to wait for Gracilynn Jenn says._

_ "I had to wait for my dad to go to bed. It was the only way I'd be able to sneak out," Gracilynn points out._

_ "Hey, as long as you're here right?" Nick says. Gracilynn pops the top off of her beer and takes a swig following Nick and the others over to the bonfire. They were in the middle of nowhere, in a clearing off a dirt road. It suited its purpose though. Gracilynn takes a seat glancing around at her surroundings, noticing woods off to her left. She takes a gulp of her beer, sitting back into her chair and relaxing. _

_ Gracilynn laughs at the joke that one of the guys just told before taking another drink of her beer, finishing it off. She sets it down on the ground next to her where the other six she drank were. She was drunk, plain and simple. And truthfully, she didn't care. In fact, she welcomed it. She was only going to have a couple but then the more she had, the more she forgot. Forgot about her uncle and Lucifer. Forgot about the pain and fear and worry. The grief. She knew being this drunk her dad was going to catch her but she didn't care. She was kind of hoping he would, then, maybe he'd snap out of his little phase he'd been in. Start caring instead of just going through the motions. She was brought back to reality when Nick holds out another beer for her. She probably shouldn't but that's why she took it. She is about to take a sip from it when she hears a sound in the distance. _

_ "Hey guys? What's that sound?" she asks, standing up, barely. She looks down the road and sees a car speeding towards them. Actually, she sees three cars speeding towards them. Suddenly, red and blue lights turn on and sirens begin blaring through the air. "Shit!"_

_ "Cops! Cops! Cops! Move guys!" Nick yells. Everyone begins scurrying around and heading to their cars. Gracilynn looks around. They were going to get caught. The only way out of here and back to town was in the direction of the cop cars. The problem was, she couldn't get caught. Not by the police. Her dad had a record. If they found out… Gracilynn looks over at the woods and makes a decision. She drops her bottle and bolts towards them. She was hoping she was moving in a straight line, but knew she wasn't and her running, if you could call it that, wasn't very fast. She makes it to the trees and cowers behind some bushes just in time to see the cops box in the group._

_ "Dad is so gonna kill me," Gracilynn groans. _Well, you idiot, you did say you wanted more excitement._ Gracilynn scowls at the voice inside her head. Gracilynn watches as the cops begin cuffing the teenagers and putting them in the back seats of the cop cars. "Yup, definitely gonna kill me."_

_ As soon as the cops took off, Gracilynn comes out of her hiding spot. She groans, remembering some of the cops drove the kids' cars that were there. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes to her oncoming headache, willing the scenery to stop spinning. There was only one way she was getting back home. Well, there was two ways and one of them involved walking and that would take a couple hours. Gracilynn pulls out her phone and stares at the name on the screen, her thumb hovering over the 'call' button. She takes a deep breath and hits the button, putting the phone to her ear, dreading the voice on the other end of the line._

_ "Gracie? Why are you calling me at two in the morning? In fact, why are you calling me period?" Dean asks, confused as to why this is happening when she was in the next room over._

_ "Hey, dad," Gracilynn says quietly._

_ "Are you sleep dialing me?" Dean asks._

_ "No," Gracilynn says. Gracilynn could practically hear his brows furrow and the gears turning in her dad's head._

_ "You're not in bed are you?" Dean asks, already knowing she wasn't. Gracilynn hears her dad say something, probably talking to Lisa and a door shut._

_ "No."_

_ "Where the hell are you?" Dean asks._

_ "Um, on that old dirt road going outta town," Gracilynn says._

_ "What? Are you okay?" Dean asks, starting to get worried._

_ "Yeah, I'm fine, I just…I'm kinda stranded."_

_ "Stranded. How the hell d'you get out there in the first place?" _

_ "I…uh…hitched a ride with some friends," Gracilynn says tentatively. No use in telling him she was wasted out of her mind if she didn't have to._

_ "So, you snuck out and 'hitched' a ride with some friends to…go to a party right?" Dean asks, the silence being enough of an answer for him. "Where are these so called friends now?"_

_ "Um…"_

_ "Gracilynn Samantha."_

_ "Prolly on their way to the police station if they're not there already," Gracilynn says, flinching at the use of her full name._

_ "Cops?" Dean asks in a harsh whisper, not wanting to wake up everyone in the house. "Dammit Gracilynn."_

_ "I know."_

_ "Hang tight. I'll be there shortly," Dean says, abruptly ending the call. Gracilynn sighs and walks over to a tree on the side of the road. She takes a seat in front of it and leans up against it, closing her eyes._

_ Gracilynn hears a car coming down the road and she stands up, holding the tree for support as the ground begins to spin in front of her. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, hearing the truck get closer. She walks, stumbles, to the side of the road and Dean pulls off in front of her. He turns the truck off and climbs out walking over to her. Gracilynn winces at the anger on her dad's face._

_ "Cops Gracilynn? Really? What the _hell_ were you guys doing out here that the cops got involved?"_

_ "Dad, I…" Gracilynn begins, but stumbles over her words._

_ "Are you drunk?" Dean asks, taking in her appearance and the swaying of her body. "Dammit Gracilynn!"_

_ "I'm sorry," Gracilynn says._

_ "You're sorry? What if they had caught you? I don't necessarily have a clean record here. I woulda been in jail and you woulda been God knows where. So what? You were so intent on coming out here and getting wasted that you put us in jeopardy?"_

_ "What? No!" Gracilynn says, shaking her head, cursing to herself afterwards when she begins to feel dizzy. "That's why I hid. 'Sides, it's not like you woulda noticed anyways."_

_ "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Dean asks angrily._

_ "Oh, come on dad! You've been out of it since…since everything happened. And I don't blame you, but it's like talking and interacting to a damn ventriloquist dummy and those things are freakin' creepy. You know what? Forget it. Can we just go home now?" Gracilynn raves. She spins on her heels and heads for the truck, only to stop and grab a hold of it and close her eyes. Dean huffs and heads to the drivers' side, opening the door, realizing Gracilynn has stopped._

_ "You gonna get in or am I leaving your ass out here?" Dean asks._

_ "No, I'm…" Gracilynn begins, only to cut herself off and bend over, retching into the grass next to her. Just as she's about to drop to her knees in exhaustion, she feels strong hands around her, holding her up. _

_ "Feel better?" Dean asks._

_ "No," Gracilynn says._

_ "Yeah, well, that's what you get for drinking too much. Come on, let's get you into the truck," Dean says, guiding her to the door and helping her get situated. Dean shuts the door behind her and walks around to his side, climbing in and getting settled. He turns on the truck and looks over at his daughter, finding her passed out, head resting against the window. Dean sighs, running a hand through his hair and down his face. He sends one more glance at his daughter before doing a u-turn and heading back to Lisa's house._

"This must be the place," Samuel says as he parks his van in front of the Impala.

"Sh…" Sam says. Something lands on the roof of the van and a vampire appears on the drivers' side. It reaches towards Samuel. Sam rushes out of the van and attacks the vampire, beheading it.

"So much for 'undercover'," Samuel says.

"Let's go," Sam says. Gracilynn moves to climb out of the van and Samuel turns to look at her.

"You should stay here," he says. Gracilynn scowls.

"Like hell I will. That's _my_ dad in there. I going with you," Gracilynn says.

"Which is exactly why you should stay here. If we have to…take care of stuff, you aren't going to want to see it," Samuel says.

"You won't have to 'take care of stuff'," Gracilynn argues.

"Samuel's right Gracilynn. You should stay here," Sam says. Gracilynn gives him a death glare.

"_You_ are gonna tell me what to do?" Gracilynn asks. Sam sighs.

"Fine, you can come with us, but you have to stay with me at all times and you have to do exactly what I say," Sam says. Samuel gives him a look.

"Fine," Gracilynn snaps.

"Shake on it," Sam says. Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"Fine," she says, grabbing her uncles' hand. Suddenly, a pair of handcuffs are slapped on her wrist and the inside door handle of the van. "Seriously?!"

"It's better if you stay here," Sam says.

"Who even does this?!"

"Apparently cops," Sam says before he and Samuel disappear inside the building.

"Son of a Bitch!" Gracilynn says, kicking the side of the van as heard as she can. She quickly grabs her foot though having hurt it in the process.

"Son of a Bitch," she mutters, alternating glaring at the van and the door to the building.

Hope ya'll liked it! Please review and let me know what ya'll thought.


	18. Is It Working?

So, here's the next chapter. I just want to let everyone know that I know I said updates were going to be faster but they might not be. I'll be working a good 60 hours a week for the month of March and will most likely not be able to write as much as I had hoped. Having said that, I will try my best to not make updates horrendously far apart for you guys. Enjoy!

Gracilynn sits back in her seat and lets out an aggravated sigh. She had searched the van but couldn't find any paper clips or anything else that could be used to pick the lock on her handcuffs. Suddenly, she sits up straight, her gaze lingering on the floorboard of the van. There on the floor in the corner was a bobby pin.

"Thank you Gwen," Gracilynn says, grinning. She picks it up and quickly picks the lock on the handcuffs. Once free, she jumps out of the vehicle and jogs to the door, reaching out to open it. She jumps backwards when it opens from the inside. She lets out a breath when she sees her dad, uncle, and Samuel appear. Gracilynn glares at her uncle before looking over at her dad.

"You good?" she asks.

"Yeah," Dean says, obviously hiding something.

"Took you a little longer to get out of those cuffs than I expected," Sam says. Gracilynn looks over at her uncle.

"Yeah, well you were a LOT more thorough getting grid of things I could use than I expected," Gracilynn replies. Dean raises an eyebrow and looks over at his brother.

"You handcuffed her?" he asks, surprised.

"She wouldn't stay behind," Sam says, climbing into the car.

"And that surprised you?' Dean asks, climbing into the Impala's drivers' seat, sending his daughter a smirk in the rearview mirror.

"No, which is why I was prepared," Sam replies from the passenger seat.

"If this works, you know its not gonna be a kiddy ride, you know that," Sam says, squirting a syringe of Boris' blood into a jar that has the cure potion in it. Dean is panting and holding his stomach.

"_If_ this works?" Gracilynn asks, irritated.

"It'll work," Sam assures her.

"It'd better," Gracilynn says, her gaze ice.

"That's great. Light her up," Dean says.

"So what'd you see in there?" Sam asks, trying not to sound eager. Gracilynn catches it though and her eyes narrow.

"What?" Dean asks, confused at the question.

"In the nest… what'd you see?" Sam clarifies.

"Sam, I can't hear you…your blood is so frickin' loud, okay? Just…just back off," Dean says. Samuel pours the potion into a coffee mug. "All right, gimme the damn cure."

Samuel hands the mug over to Dean. Dean smells it and recoils, making a face at it. A grim smile appears and he lifts the mug to the others.

"L'chaim...," he says. Dean messily chugs the potion and tries to keep it down when he's done. Gracilynn watches in earnest, but nothing happens except for her dad spitting a little bit out.

"I don't think it…" Dean begins but is interrupted when he suddenly spins around and begins projectile vomiting into the waste basket. Gracilynn's eyes widen at seeing what appears to be blood.

"Is it working?" Sam asks concerned. Gracilynn's gaze doesn't waver from her father, but she hears what her uncle and Samuel are saying.

"Either that or he's dying," Samuel says, drawing his machete. Gracilynn's head whips around when she hears this, noticing the machete in his hand. Before she can say anything though, her dad's struggle to breath catches her attention and she turns it back to him. She watches as her dad's head raises before he clutches his stomach and moans in agony. His fangs are gone and his eyes are bloodshot. He seems to blank out slightly and Gracilynn looks over at her uncle.

"He's okay right? It's working?" she asks, desperate for a positive answer from him even though she's mad at him.

"Yeah…yeah, he's fine," Sam replies. Gracilynn looks back over at her dad, seeing his eyes clear up. He blinks a few times and struggles to sit up by himself. Sam and Gracilynn rush over and help him, getting him into a seated position. Sam pats him on the chest but Gracilynn catches the strange look her dad gives him. Something happened and somehow Gracilynn knew it had to deal with her uncle.

Gracilynn sits in one of the chairs at the table, her gaze on her uncle and Samuel packing up their belongings but her mind is focused on what happened forty-five minutes ago. The bathroom door opens and Dean walks into the room. Sam looks over at him, seeing he's not covered in blood and filth anymore.

"Hi. So, what'd you see?" Sam asks.

"What?" Dean asks, taken off guard and thinking Sam's talking about when he drank the cure.

"In the nest. What'd you see?" Sam clarifies once again. Dean pauses a moment before answering the question.

"Uhm...well, I'm still trying to work through it, but, uh...I'm pretty sure they're not figuring anything out on their own. They're getting their orders from the top...where to go next, everything," Dean answers.

"Top, as in...?" Samuel asks.

"Their alpha. At least, that's what I think it is. They've got some sort of psychic thing happening. He sends 'em, uh...I don't know…messages?" Dean answers. He looks over at his daughter, seeing her spacing out. She had been doing a lot of that lately.

"Saying what?" Sam asks. Dean beings his attention back to Sam.

"Honestly? Recruitment drive," Dean says, waiting for Sam and Samuel to register this before continuing. "Their alpha's building an army."

"Well, _that's_ comforting," Samuel says.

"That's not the worst," Dean says.

"Then what _is_?" Sam asks.

"We don't scare them anymore," Dean says. Sam and Samuel exchange glance. Dean looks back over at Gracilynn, checking her over and making sure she was okay. He walks over and squeezes her shoulder. Gracilynn blinks back to the present and looks up at her dad, giving him a small smile which he returns, both of them knowing the other is forcing it. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Gracilynn says, nodding her head.

"Oh, Sam," Dean says, turning to look over at his brother. Sam looks back over at him.

"Yeah?" he asks.

"You get hit by a vamp?" Dean asks, gesturing towards the bruise on his face.

"Uh…" Sam says looking at Gracilynn, "Yeah, kinda."

"You must've really pissed them off," Gracilynn retorts.

"You should stick some ice on that," Dean advises before turning to his daughter.

"Grab your stuff, we'll start loading the Impala," Dean says, grabbing his own bag. Gracilynn throws her bag over her shoulder and with a quick glance in her uncle's direction, follows her dad out the door.

"Hey, Lis...uh..." Dean says into his phone, standing next to the Impala's open trunk. Gracilynn looks over at her dad, knowing things had gotten pretty messed up between him and Lisa. Dean ends the call and puts the phone back in his pocket, slamming the trunk shut. Gracilynn notices Sam standing in front of her dad milliseconds before he does.

"How'd it go with Lisa?" Sam asks.

"It didn't," Dean says shortly.

"I'm sorry," Sam says, but Gracilynn can tell he's faking it.

"Yeah. At least, uh..._you_ got my back," Dean says, Gracilynn can tell there's more to the question than what is actually said. "No matter what happens, I can always count on you, right, Sammy?"

"Yeah. Of course, Dean," Sam says. Gracilynn scoffs before entering the back seat and slamming the door shut. It's not lost on Dean but decides to talk to her about it later. Dean and Sam enter the Impala simultaneously and shut their respective door. Gracilynn folds her arms across her chest and sinks down into the seat, glancing out the window. Something tells her that her dad knows exactly what Sam did.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! Also, I could use some more input from you guys: Are there any flashback that you haven't seen that you want to see? And, are there any you really enjoyed that you would like to see more of? I thinking ahead and trying to figure out what else I can incorporate into the story. Thanks!


	19. What's Going On With You Two?

Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Gracilynn walks out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam billowing out after her. She puts her clothes in her bag and looks around the room, only seeing her dad. Dean's sitting at the table browsing through some articles he had found on the internet. Gracilynn walks over and peers over he dad's shoulder, noticing the articles are about a group of deaths that have been happening in the next state over. Gracilynn walks away towards her bed wondering where her uncle is.

"Where's Sam?" Gracilynn asks. Dean looks over at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh…_Sam_ is out getting breakfast," Dean answers. "What's going on with you two?"

Dean knew what he saw in the flashes of memories after taking the cure but he didn't want Gracilynn to know. On the other hand, for safety reasons, he should tell her. He just wasn't sure how she'd react. He knew something was going on because she'd been sending Sam glares when she thought no one was looking and she'd been getting snappy with him as well. Not to mention the fact she seemed to be watching his every move. He'd been watching Sam too, but he had a reason. He didn't trust him right now; not until he figured out what was going on.

"Nothing," Gracilynn says, shrugging her shoulders.

"Something's going on," Dean pushes.

"Okay, dad. You want to share stories. What d'you see after you drank the cure? _Something_ happened afterwards," Gracilynn says.

"I already told you. It was just memories from before and during the time I got turned," Dean says.

"Right," Gracilynn says, knowing there was more to the story. "So, you watching every move Sam makes has nothing to do with it?"

"How d'you know that?" Dean asks, thinking he was doing pretty good about hiding it. "And when did you start dropping the uncle from Uncle Sam?"

"Since he decided to…" Gracilynn starts, anger affecting her judgment. She abruptly stops herself and looks over at her dad. "Uh…I don't know."

"Since he decided to what?" Dean asks. "Because you've been watching him just as closely as I have."

_Dammit_ Gracilynn thinks. She had thought no one had noticed. She looks at her dad, seeing an eyebrow raised and him waiting for an answer. Gracilynn sighs. She had been trying to put this conversation off for as long as possible. She knew her dad needed to know he couldn't trust Sam but she also knew it would kill him inside to know what his own brother did. Dean narrows his eyebrows, seeing the tell-tale signs of a war going on inside his daughters head. The concentrated spaced-out expression, the biting of the bottom lip. He leans back in his chair and clears his throat. Gracilynn blinks and looks at him.

"I…" she begins, but stops, not knowing how to start.

"Does this have something to do with that vampire job we were on?" Dean asks, intuition telling him he's on the right track. Gracilynn bites her lip.

"Yeah," she says.

"Hey, you know you can tell me anything right?" Dean says, trying to get his daughter to talk. It was like pulling teeth with her. Gracilynn nods her head.

"I'm pretty sure Sam let you get turned," Gracilynn says quickly. Dean watches her for a moment.

"What makes you say that?" he asks.

"Because when I came back after finding out that other couple wasn't actually a couple but a brother and sister, I had tripped and fell," Gracilynn says. Dean begins wondering where this is going. "I looked up and saw him just standing there watching something I couldn't see. Smirking slightly. When I got to my feet I saw it was you and the vampire and he'd just… Well, Sam didn't do anything until after it had happened."

Dean nods his head in understanding. Gracilynn watches him for any sign of a reaction. He seems rather calm though and she gets thinking.

"You knew this," she says. Dean looks over at her. "You saw it in one of your memories."

"Yeah," Dean says. Then, deciding to change the subject slightly. "This why you're calling him Sam?"

Gracilynn shrugs her shoulders. Dean studies her for a moment when something hits him; something he heard her say.

"You're pissed at him," Dean says, taking the non-answer as a yes. "How'd he really get the bruise on his face?"

Gracilynn looks over at him. It still amazed her at how her dad seems to randomly put pieces together to solve the problem.

"I found out he knew about the cure. Which is why he thought it was okay to let you get turned. I confronted him about it," Gracilynn says.

"You confronted him about it with your _fist_," Dean says, knowing he'd have done the same thing if roles were reversed. Gracilynn shrugs her shoulders.

"It's not him," Gracilynn says, looking at her dad. "He's…different. He's not _our_ Sam. _Our_ Sam woulda never done that…for anything."

"Yeah, I know," Dean says. "I've been thinking the same think for a while now."

"Something's wrong and we need to figure out what it is," Gracilynn says, not hearing the door open in the middle of her sentence.

"We need to figure out what what is?" Sam asks, shutting the door behind him. Dean looks over at him before answer.

"What's killing these people," Dean says, pulling up the articles he found, shooting an inconspicuous look at his daughter.

"Why what's going on?" Sam asks, instantly interested.

"In the past year, there's been five deaths. Girls are going into the woods only to be found days later, frozen to death," Dean says.

"Where is this?" Sam asks.

"Next state over," Dean says, "Montana."

"It's pretty cold in Montana Dean. It could just be they got lost and froze because of the weather," Sam points out.

"Okay, well get this. One of the girls died in June. Another August. The others were in October and November," Dean says.

"They froze to death in June? August?" Sam asks, eyebrows furrowed.

"Still think this isn't our kinda thing?" Dean challenges.

"All right. I'll start loading up the car," Sam says, standing up and grabbing his bag and the weapons bag.

"Wow, someone's in a hurry," Gracilynn says sarcastically as Sam exits the room. "You'd think all he cares about is the damn hunt."

Dean sighs.

"Grab your stuff. You can eat on the way," Dean says, making sure he has everything he needs.

"All I'm saying Sam is the lady just lost her daughter. You could've been a little more sympathetic during the interview," Dean chastises as he and Sam walk through the hotel door. Gracilynn looks up from the computer where she was researching. "Any other time you're the one yelling at me for not being sympathetic enough."

"Find out anything?" Gracilynn asks.

"No, not much," Dean answers, throwing his jacket and suit jacket on the bed and stripping himself of his tie. "The families knew nothing and the ME told us everything we already knew."

"Except, from what I could tell by the houses, all of the girls had come from well-to do families," Sam says.

"And from the pictures and decorations, they seemed like they were spoiled," Dean adds. Gracilynn makes a face. If it was one thing she couldn't stand, it was spoiled rich kids.

"Well, looks like I might've solved this case," Gracilynn says. Dean raises an eyebrow.

"Well, make sure your head can fit through the door," he says. Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"I think we're dealing with Morozko," Gracilynn says.

"Who?" Dean asks.

"Morozko. He's a frost demon. Supposedly, he hangs out in the woods and when he comes across girl's he kills them by freezing them to death," Gracilynn says.

"A demon? I don't know. Usually demons don't have a 'type'," Dean says.

"Yeah, well, according to the lore, if the girl complains of the cold Morozko kills them," Gracilynn says, "If the victims so far have been spoiled rich girls, I could see them complaining of the cold."

"So, what does he do with girl's that don't complain of the cold?" Sam asks.

"There's only ever been one and he…" Gracilynn says, trailing off.

"He what?" Dean asks.

"He married her. Supposedly she was happy but I don't know. Who could be happy married to a demon? Do demons even get married?" she says.

"I don't know. This just seems… out of the ordinary," Dean says, still not sure.

"Yeah, and when has anything been ordinary this year?" Gracilynn points out.

"Touché," Dean says.

"So, how do we kill him?" Sam asks.

"Same way as any other demon I would think," Gracilynn says. Sam nods his head, beginning to gather the weapons they would need.

"You're not planning on going out now are you?" Dean asks Sam.

"Well,…" Sam says.

"It's going to be dark soon. The last thing we want is to go out into the woods in the middle of the night," Dean says. "No, we get a good nights' sleep and then we go out tomorrow morning."

Sam sighs but puts the weapons away anyways. Dean watches him, sharing a small look with his daughter. Gracilynn shrugs and begins gathering her clothes, going into the bathroom to get changed for bed.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think!


	20. Bait

Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the long wait guys!

"I'll be the bait and when that thing comes around you kill it," Dean says to Sam. Sam nods his head as they arrive at the clearing. Sam hides behind some bushes while Dean walks further into the clearing, taking a seat on a fallen log. They don't have to wait for very long when they hear a noise coming from their left. Dean tenses, waiting for the creature to appear. Suddenly, the thing appears out of nowhere and slices at Dean with his claws, coming into contact with his stomach and slicing it open. Sam jumps up from his position, not expecting the thing to attack so soon. He watches as his brother falls to the ground, grabbing at his midsection. The creature takes off towards the other side of the woods and Sam runs towards Dean. He looks down and notices the damage before glancing up at the creature, which has just reached the edge of the clearing . Sam gives his brother one last glance before taking off after the creature, leaving Dean behind.

Dean furrows his eyebrows, slowly waking up from his sleep. He listens carefully knowing something has woken him up but not quite sure what. Then, he hears it; a rustle and breathing picking up. He knew that sound well; it was the sound of his brother or daughter in the middle of a nightmare. Dean lifts his head up and looks over at Gracilynn's bed and sees her restlessness. He gets up and walks over to her bed, sitting down on the edge of it. He turns on the light and his gaze whips up to her face when he hears a whimper and a silent 'no'.

Gracilynn runs through the woods and comes upon the clearing. She stops and looks around but doesn't see her dad or uncle anywhere. She takes a few more steps and that's when she notices a lump in the grass. She rushes over to it, realizing halfway there that it's her dad. She rushes over to him and drops to her knees, watching as her dad coughs up blood.

"No," Gracilynn whispers, reaching out to try to help but pulls her hands back not wanting to hurt him further. Gracilynn looks up and across the field, looking for her uncle but not seeing him anywhere. Gracilynn hears her dad choking and looks down to see blood coming out of his mouth.

"Dad?" Gracilynn calls, feeling the tears fall down her cheeks. "Dad, come on. You gotta fight this. Dad?"

Gracilynn watches but doesn't get a response from him. She looks at his eyes and see the light fade from them. She chokes back a sob.

"No, no, no, no, no," she begs. "Dad!"

"Gracie," Dean calls her name quietly. He sees the tension lines increase on her face and hears her say his name. It's the tear that falls that finally does it for him though.

"Gracie," Dean says louder, the only response his daughter shaking her head, her breathing beginning to pick up further. "Gracie!"

"Dad!" Gracilynn yells jolting upright, panting. Dean watches her, waiting for her to come back to the present. Gracilynn blinks a few times and her gaze focuses on the worried face of her father. She forces a swallow down, feeling like she's ready to be sick. She looks over at the other bed holding her uncle.

"Hey, Gracie…you okay?" Dean asks, studying her reactions. Gracilynn brings her attention back to her dad.

"Yeah, 'm fine," she answers, forcing her breathing back under control.

"Wanna talk about it?" Dean asks. Gracilynn shakes her head.

"No, 'm good," Gracilynn replies.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just tired still," Gracilynn says, "Night dad."

Gracilynn slides back down in her bed, pulling her covers back up to her chin and closes her eyes. Dean watches her for a moment before sighing and standing up, crawling back into his own bed. Dean lies on his back, staring at the ceiling above him, knowing Gracilynn was anything but fine. Dean knew whatever nightmare it was, it had scared her and because of that she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. That, and the fact he could feel her watching him.

Gracilynn opens her eyes and rolls over, keeping the covers high, so as her dad can't see her awake. She watches her dad stare up at the ceiling above him, knowing he knows she's not okay. But, what was she going to tell him. 'No, I'm not fine. I actually had a dream of Uncle Sam leaving you to die just so he can kill a damn monster.' Yeah, that'll go over well. Not wanting to go to sleep, Gracilynn just lies in bed, watching her dad's chest rise and fall, silently thanking whomever that he was still breathing.

Gracilynn was tired. No, scratch that, she was exhausted. She stayed up the whole rest of the night which resulted in her only getting a few hours of sleep and now she was regretting it. The motel door opens and in walks her dad and uncle, shutting the door behind them.

"Find out where Morozko might be hold up?" Gracilynn asks tiredly.

"No, but we were able to get a map of the woods that shows where landmarks and buildings are located," Dean says, looking over at his daughter, not missing the exhaustion in her voice. "You take a nap like I told you to?"

"Wasn't tired," Gracilynn says.

"Sure you weren't," Dean says, but doesn't argue any further.

"When we leaving?" Gracilynn asks.

"_Sam and I_ are leaving after we get changed," Dean answers.

"Dad, come on," Gracilynn whines.

"You're kinda the guys' type, if you haven't noticed," Dean says. _Again_, he thinks. Gracilynn glances over at her uncle, remembering the dream she had last night. Sam grabs his clothes and goes into the bathroom to get changed, not noticing the look Gracilynn gives him. Gracilynn looks back at her dad.

"I'm not letting you go by yourself," Gracilynn says.

"I won't be by myself. Sam'll be with me," Dean says, knowing it's a lame argument. They both knew neither one of them trusted him right now.

"All I need is for you to get attacked and Sam to run off leaving you for _dead_," Gracilynn growls lowly. Dean is taken aback by the sudden comment, realizing Gracilynn realized she said too much when she bites her bottom lip.

"Wait a minute," Dean says, thinking about recent events, "Is that what your dream was about last night?"

"It's nothing dad, don't worry about it," Gracilynn sighs, turning around and heading for the door.

"Whoa, hold on. Where are you going?" Dean asks when he notices Gracilynn walking towards the door.

"I'm going for a walk," Gracilynn says.

"You really think that's a good idea considering…" Dean says, not having to mention she fits the profile of all the victims again.

"I'm not going hiking in the woods dad, I'm just going for a walk," Gracilynn counters before walking out the door. Dean sighs rubbing a hand down his face.

Gracilynn walks down the sidewalk a ways until she comes to a bench where she takes a seat. She looks around her, noticing not many people were out. She figures it's because it's getting close to dinner time. Gracilynn sighs, leaning back in the seat and closing her eyes. She hadn't meant to say what she did; in fact she hadn't meant for her dad to know anything about her dream. She was just lucky her dad let it drop. She shivers as a breeze blows on her. She wraps her arms around her tightly, realizing she had forgotten her jacket back at the motel room. At least she had her sweatshirt. Gracilynn opens her eyes and pulls her sleeves over her hands. Something catches her eye down the road slightly and she turns to look, seeing a girl about her age enter the woods.

"Seriously?" Gracilynn says, "Come on."

Gracilynn looks back at the motel and then back over at the woods seeing the girl disappear. She shifts her gaze back to the motel once again, trying to figure out what to do.

"Dad's gonna kill me," Gracilynn says, looking over at the woods once again and not seeing the girl any longer. "Again."

She jumps up from her seat and runs across the road, entering the woods and looking around for the girl. She was hoping she could catch up to her quickly and talk her out of going back to the town. She runs for a short amount of time before she sees the girl ahead of her and she runs up to her.

"Hey!" Gracilynn yells, causing the girl to jump.

"Who are you?" she asks.

"Listen, you shouldn't be in here. It's not safe," Gracilynn says.

"Why? Because of the deaths? I think I'll be fine," the girls says.

"I really think we should get out of here," Gracilynn tries again, becoming more aware of her surroundings.

"You can go whenever you want. I'm staying here," the girl says, "'Sides, I'm supposed to meet my boyfriend at one of the cabins out here."

"Listen…" Gracilynn begins again.

"No. I'm not going. I don't even know who you are," the girl replies, annoyed, before turning away and quickly walking further into the woods.

"Dammit," Gracilynn curses watching the girl walk away from her. She glances behind her where she knows the road is before glancing back after the girl. "Dammit."

Gracilynn pulls out her phone and begins following after her. If she was going to do this, she might as well be smart about it and call in for back up. At least this way maybe her dad won't ground her as much.

Sam shuts the trunk of the Impala, throwing the bag over his shoulder. He glances in the direction he last saw Gracilynn noticing her crossing the street. He furrows his brows in confusion and glances around, seeing a teenaged girl enter the woods. Sam looks back towards his niece, his gaze following her as she enters the woods herself. He debates whether he should follow her or not but decides to wait a bit. He figures she could keep Morozko occupied until he and Dean can get there. Sam turns around and, opening the door, enters the motel room.

Dean looks up from his spot at the table seeing his brother walk in. Dean lets out a sigh; he had been hoping it was Gracilynn. Sam sets the back on the floor and makes his way towards his brother.

"So, I just saw Gracilynn," Sam says. Dean looks up at him.

"Yeah?" Dean asks, before looking back at the computer in front of him.

"Yeah. She was heading into the woods," Sam continues. Dean's head snaps up.

"What?"

"Yeah, she was chasing some girl who was heading into the woods," Sam says nonchalantly. Dean looks at him unbelievingly. "What?"

"And you didn't think to go after her?" Dean asks incredulously, "Dude, she's fits the profile! What the hell!"

Dean is already up and grabbing his coat, throwing it on. Sam shrugs. Dean grabs the colt and the demon killing knife. If Morozko was a demon either one of them would work.

"I figured she could handle herself till we got there," Sam says. Dean turns to look at him, studying his face. Realization dawns on him and he purses his lips.

"Bait. You were using her as bait," Dean says angrily.

"Dean…" Sam begins.

"She's my _daughter_ Sam! Your _niece_! That used to mean something to you!" Dean yells heatedly. He shakes his head and walks out the door. Sam follows after him.

"I'm sure she'll be fine Dean," Sam says, catching up to him. Dean stops and turns to look at him, fury in his eyes.

"If Gracie wasn't in trouble right now…If I didn't need your help…I'd kick your ass right here and now," Dean spits out before turning back around and heading in the direction of the woods. It was one thing to put him in the line of fire, but Gracie? No way. They were going to have a talk and if his fists ended up finishing it, then so be it. This wasn't his brother; Sam, _his_ Sam, would never do something like this.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think!


	21. I'm Coming For You First

Here's a quicker update for ya'll! Anyone been watching the promos for the second half of season 8? It's looks awesome and I can't wait for this Wednesday!

Dean hastily makes his way to the road, stopping as cars drive by, still thinking about this whole situation with Sam. Dean is pulled from his thoughts by his phone ringing. He pulls it out and answers it.

"Gracie?" he asks, something telling him it's her.

"Dad? Hey, listen, don't get mad," Gracilynn starts.

"You're in the woods chasing after some girl," Dean says, looking both ways and crossing the street, feeling Sam following behind him.

"Uh…yeah. How d'you know?" Gracilynn asks.

"Sam saw you," Dean replies, jogging to the woods and entering them. "Do me a favor and stay put."

"Dad, I can't just leave her. What if Morozko shows up?" Gracilynn argues, trying to keep the girl in her line of sight.

"Exactly," Dean says, "And you have nothing to fight him with."

"Then, I guess you had b-better catch up fast," Gracilynn says, the cold beginning to get to her. "I'm assuming you're already in the w-woods?"

"What's wrong?" Dean asks, picking up on the slight stutter, his eyes narrowing as he and Sam continue through the woods, keeping an eye out for both Gracilynn and Morozko.

"Nothing. I'm just c-cold," Gracilynn says, wrapping her free arm around her mid-section. Dean thinks about this. He was fine; of course, if he didn't have his winter jacket he'd be cold but…

Dean sighs.

"Gracie," he says.

"Y-yeah," she answers.

"Please tell me you have your coat on."

"Um…" Gracilynn replies.

"Awesome. Who goes out in the middle of winter with_out_ a coat on Gracilynn?" Dean lectures.

"I forgot," Gracilynn argues, huffing to herself. "And I wasn't really thinking about it when I saw…"

Dean stops, waiting for Gracilynn to continue, but she doesn't.

"Gracie?"

"She's gone," Gracilynn says, looking around the woods.

"Who's gone?"

"That chick I was with. She's gone," Gracilynn explains, doing a full circle but not seeing any sign of her.

"All right, just…just stay where you are okay?" Dean says, beginning to walk again.

"I think she went this way," Gracilynn says, starting to walk in the direction to her right.

"Dammit Gracilynn. Stay. Put."

"Dad. She could be in trouble," Gracilynn says.

"Gracilynn. So could you," Dean argues back. "And I'm telling you right now. If you get into trouble I'm coming for you _first_."

Dean hears his daughter sigh, but knows she has stopped moving, if the increase in chattering of teeth was anything to go by. Dean picks up his pace, keeping an eye out for her. Suddenly, the chattering of teeth disappears and Dean stops once again.

"Gracie? Gracie?!" Dean says into the phone. He pulls the phone from his ear and notices the call has been dropped and there are no bars.

"What happened?" Sam asks from behind him. Dean can't help the slight jump, forgetting Sam was even with him.

"No service. The call dropped," Dean says, putting his phone back in his pocket and continuing in the direction he believes his daughter to be.

"Dad? Dad?!" Gracilynn yells into her phone, but doesn't get an answer. He had been talking and then the phone just cut out. She pulls her phone away and notices she isn't connected to him anymore and the words 'no service' flash on her phone. "That's weird. I just _had_ service like two seconds ago."

Gracilynn sighs in frustration and puts her phone back into her pocket. She wraps her arms around her, rubbing her arms trying to keep herself warm. She really should have remembered her coat. Suddenly, there is a scream and Gracilynn's head whips up and shoots over towards her right.

"Son of a Bitch," Gracilynn grumbles, forgetting what her dad told her and takes off towards the scream. After a few minutes she comes to a stop in front of a mass on the ground. Gracilynn looks around but doesn't see anything. She slowly walks towards it, making out the shape of a teenaged girl, lying on the ground before her. "Dammit."

Gracilynn stops next to her and crouches down, reaching out to roll her over. She retracts her hand quickly at the freezing temperature of the girls' skin.

"Shit," Gracilynn curses under her breath and stands up, looking around. She bites her bottom lip, trying to figure out what to do. Morozko was here and she didn't know if he was still here or where the hell he was. A cold breeze blows over her and she quickly hugs herself, wrapping her hands in her sleeves and her teeth begin chattering more so.

"You must be cold?" a voice says behind her. Gracilynn closes her eyes for a second before she opens them and turns around to see a man her dad's height with brown hair and brown eyes looking at her. _Well, at least I know where Morozko is_.

Dean and Sam trudge through the woods. Dean was hoping they were heading in the right direction when he hears a scream. He stops dead in his tracks along with Sam. It only happens once though and Dean looks over at Sam.

"You think that was her?" Sam asks.

"I don't know," Dean says, starting forward with renewed vigor.

"I'm fine," Gracilynn says, the tightening of her arms around her saying otherwise.

"You're shaking. You're teeth are chattering. It's pretty cold out here," Morozko points out.

"Really, I'm fine," Gracilynn says, shaking harder when a breeze starts up again. Morozko gives her a sympathetic smile.

"Let me help you," he says, taking a step forward. Gracilynn takes a step back. She hears a noise behind her and suddenly her dad's voice cuts through the trees.

"Gracie!" Gracilynn looks behind her to see her dad and uncle appear. She hears another noise and she turns in time to see Morozko grab her and then nothing.

Dean and Sam run through the woods. Just as Dean thinks they'll never find Gracilynn, they happen upon her. Dean's breath catches when he sees who he can only assume is Morozko standing in front of her and a frozen body of a teenaged girl on the ground next to them. He sees Gracilynn turn around and just as she does so, Morozko jumps towards her.

"Gracie!" he yells. Gracilynn turns back around and the next thing Dean sees is nothing but a frozen dead body. He looks around hastily, but doesn't see any sign of his daughter or Morozko. "Where…?"

"You have the map right?" Sam asks. "He has to be holed up in one of the abandoned cabins."

Dean nods his head, silently kicking himself for not getting here faster. He pulls the map out of his pocket and hands it to Sam before walking towards the spot he had last seen his daughter. He turns in a circle trying to find anything that could help them figure out which direction they went.

"Dean," Sam says, "We can't find them if you lose it."

Dean nods his head again, knowing his brother is right. He walks back over to where his brother has spread the map out on a fallen log and has begun searching for the closest cabin.

"I have no clue which one he took her so we'll just have to search them one by one," Sam asys.

"That'll take hours," Dean argues. "Gracie might not have that much time."

"It's the best we can do," Sam says, "Listen, these three are occupied right now, according to the sheriff. So we can skip them. That leaves three more cabins to check out."

"Okay," Dean says, giving in, "Let's hurry up then."

Please review! Love hearing what ya'll think!


	22. Just As She Did

Here's another quick update for ya'll! Enjoy!

Gracilynn opens her eyes and sees she's in some sort of cabin. She looks around and notices the fireplace is going. There is a table with a bowl on it and various other things she really didn't want to know what they were. The front door opens and Morozko walks in carrying a bag.

"You're awake. Good," Morozko says. Gracilynn makes a face and stands up, feeling bonds around her wrists. She looks down and sees her hands are tied to a rope connected to the wall. She looks back over at Morozko. "It's just precaution. Just until the ritual is finished."

"What ritual?" Gracilynn asks, dreading the answer.

"The one that binds us together," Morozko answers.

"Binds us? Like…" Gracilynn asks, thinking back to what they read about Morozko.

"Marriage. Only stronger," Morozko replies.

"How…how strong?" Gracilynn asks, feeling the fear rise up.

"When the ritual is finished we will be bound together for eternity. Well, that is, until you die," Morozko answers.

"I'll just escape," Gracilynn says.

"You can't," Morozko says.

"My dad and uncle…they'll come for me. They'll get me out of here," Gracilynn argues.

"No, they won't. Like I said the ritual bounds you to me. You won't leave because you can't. The only way out is your death," Morozko explains, emptying out the objects in the bag onto the table. Gracilynn forces herself to take deep breaths. She glances out the window and hopes that her dad and uncle are on their way.

"It doesn't look like anyone's here Sam," Dean says, looking at the cabin before them from his spot behind a tree.

"Maybe not," Sam says, "But Gracilynn could be in there tied up. Hurt. Unconscious. Morozko could be out. It won't hurt to take a look."

"Fine," Dean says curtly, coming out of his hiding spot and sneaking up to the cabin. He peers inside through the window but can't see anything. He looks over at his brother and shakes his head. Sam grabs the door handle and whips the door open, walking into the one room cabin with the demon killing knife in front of him. Dean walks in after him, colt held in front of him. They look around but don't see anything. In fact, the place was covered in dust and looked as if no one had been there in years. "No one's here. Can we go to the next one now?"

Sam glances over at his brother and sighs. He drops his hand with the knife and gives the room one last glance.

"Yeah," he says.

"Good," Dean replies, already walking out the door. Sam follows after him, not taking too long to catch up to his brother due to his long legs.

Gracilynn watches as Morozko begins drawing symbols on the table. Some she recognized and other she didn't. Silently, she tries to untie the rope around her wrists, but they were pretty tight. She glances outside again, searching for any sign her dad and uncle were there but doesn't see anything. She looks back over at Morozko, biting her lip.

"I thought your last wife was happy to be with you. I thought she wanted to stay," Gracilynn says. Morozko looks up at her.

"She did. After the ritual was complete that is," he says.

"I'm seventeen. I'm not old enough to be married," Gracilynn says. "I have a family. I don't _want_ to be here with you."

"You will," Morozko replies. "After the ritual is complete. Just as she did."

Gracilynn feels her heart begin to beat faster in her chest. Morozko doesn't seem to notice and goes about finishing the symbols. Gracilynn watches as he puts the chalk down and grabs the bowl, beginning to mix ingredients together. Gracilynn closes her eyes, trying to push the quelling fear back down. She wouldn't be of any use if she had a panic attack. She opens them again, looking around for anything sharp that would cut her bindings. She sees a pocket knife on the table in front of her and she glances over at Morozko. He was busy mixing the different object on the table into the bowl. She slowly reaches over to grab the knife, keeping an eye on the demon in front of her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Morozko says without looking up from what he is doing. He lifts his hand and the pocket knife flings into it. Gracilynn's eyes grow big. Morozko sets the pocket knife on the table next to him. Gracilynn bites her lip and looks outside again.

"They won't find you," Morozko says. Gracilynn's gaze jerks back over to them. "At least, not in time."

"Naturally they wouldn't be in this cabin either," Dean grumbles as he and Sam exit the second cabin.

"Well, at least we know they'll be in the next one," Sam says, following Dean as he starts in the direction of the third and final cabin.

"They'd better," Dean says, picking up his pace. He hoped they made it in time before anything too bad happened.

She was trying not to show it, but Gracilynn was beginning to panic. Morozko had finished mixing all of the ingredients together a short time ago. He looks over at her and smiles. Picking up a knife and the bowl, he walks over to her.

"I have just one last ingredient," Morozko says, right before he manhandles her against the wall and slices her arm. He puts the knife down and grabs the bowl, squeezing her arm so her blood drops into the bowl. Once done, he grabs the knife and walks back towards the table. Striking a match, her begins chanting, dropping it into the bowl. The contents of the bowl go up in flame and Morozko lifts the bowl into the air, continuing to chant. She couldn't help it; the fear and panic took hold of her and Gracilynn began to fervently try to loosen the rope around her wrists. She continues to glance over at Morozko, hoping that she can get loose and stop him before he finishes the ritual. If not…well, she really didn't want to think about that; she was already freaking out.

Dean and Sam sneak up to the last cabin, spotting a light on inside. Dean's jaw tenses, knowing Gracilynn is inside. He pulls out the colt and looks over at Sam who already has the demon killing knife out and ready to go. Sam looks over at him and nods his head. The two of them make their way to the front of the cabin, making sure to stay quiet so as not to announce their presence. They hear chanting coming from inside and upon peering inside a window they see Morozko holding up a bowl and chanting some incantation. Across the room, Dean sees Gracilynn tied to a wall. He feels his anger rise detecting the panic enveloping his daughter as she feverishly tries to loosen her bonds.

He feels a tap on his shoulder and he looks over at his brother. Sam nods towards the door and holds up three fingers. Dean nods his head in understanding. The two of them stand on either side of the door and on three Sam shoves the door open. Dean barges in and aims the colt at Morozko. Morozko looks over at him just as Dean pulls the trigger. Gracilynn watches in horror as Morozko lunges and manages to make the bullet miss his heart and hit him in the arm instead.

"Son of a…" Dean begins only to be thrown into the far wall. Gracilynn flinches and proceeds to try to undo her bonds. Sam appears directly in front of Morozko and shoves the knife into his stomach, twisting it for emphasis. Morozko jerks and light flashes from inside him. Dean quickly climbs up onto his feet and rushes to Gracilynn's side. Gracilynn looks up to see her dad run up next to her, knife already out of his boot. She holds out her hands and he cuts through them quickly. Gracilynn glances over where Morozko was, seeing him dead on the ground and her uncle putting the knife away.

"Hey, you okay?" Dean says, moving to stand between Gracilynn and Morozko. Gracilynn looks at her dad, her head nodding jerkily. They didn't get there until the tail end but whatever had gone down in the cabin wasn't good judging by the fear still evident in his daughters' eyes.

"She alright?" Sam asks. Gracilynn notices a change in her dad's eyes but she can't quite figure it out before he quickly covers it up.

"She'll live," Dean says, checking Gracilynn over and noting the cut on her arm. He gently probes it, earning a muffled hiss from Gracilynn. Dean looks up at her and Gracilynn quickly clamps her jaw tight. Dean sighs. "Come on. Let's get you back to the hotel and get this cleaned up."

"Go on ahead, I'll burn the body," Sam says. Dean gently pushes Gracilynn towards the door, glancing at Sam before following after her.

Dean ties the bandage off on Gracilynn's forearm, putting the first aid supplies back into the box. She had been quite since they left the cabin. They had waited in the Impala for Sam to finish up and meet up with them and Dean had tried to get her to talk about what had happened but had no such luck. He figured Sam would have better luck due to his puppy dog eyes. But then again, the Sam that was with them wasn't really Sam was it. Dean looks over at the table at said brother. They got back at the motel room and Dean had instantly set to work on his daughter's arm. Sam, on the other hand had gotten to work on finding another job. Dean shuts the first aid kit and puts it in his bag, zipping it up. He rubs a hand down his face before looking over at Gracilynn, who had moved to lean up against the wall, her eyes closed.

"I'm gonna go grab dinner," Dean announces. Sam looks up.

"Okay," he says. Dean looks back over at Gracilynn.

"You gonna come with me?" he asks. Gracilynn opens her eyes to see her dad staring at her.

"Was just gonna stay here," she says.

"Think you should probly come with me," Dean says, throwing her jacket at her. Gracilynn catches it and rolls her eyes, but puts it on nonetheless. Dean throws his own jacket on and waits for Gracilynn to catch up before exiting the room.

"You gonna come in?" Dean asks Gracilynn after parking the Impala in front of the diner. Gracilynn gives her dad a look that says, I-didn't-even-wanna-come-in-the-first-place. "All right."

Dean climbs out of the car turning around and sticking his head back into the vehicle.

"Stay put," he says before shutting the door and walking into the diner. Gracilynn sighs. This job got to her; it shouldn't of, at least not this bad, but she had been extremely close to never seeing her dad and uncle again. Knowing that, it scared the crap out of her. Gracilynn watches her dad talk to a waitress at the counter. She had caught him trying to call Lisa a few times, all of which were unsuccessful. She figured he is in the same boat she was, the fear of losing two people he loved over a damn monster. Well, it wasn't going to happen; not if she had anything to say about it. Gracilynn makes sure her dad is busy before pulling out her phone dialing a number in the beginning she thought she'd never dial on her own. She puts the phone to her ear, watching her dad, making sure he wasn't coming back out yet.

"Hello?" a female voice says. Gracilynn opens her mouth to talk but realizes she has no clue what she plans on saying. "Gracilynn?"

"Yeah," she says.

"Are you okay?" the woman asks. Gracilynn takes a deep breath.

"Lisa…we need to talk," Gracilynn says.

Gracilynn hangs up her phone and puts it back in her pocket as she sees her dad pay the waitress in the diner. She sighs. _That could have gone better_. She had tried to talk to Lisa. Explain to her that it wasn't her dad who pushed Ben. That he was just trying to protect him. Of course, she argued if that was the case then why'd he come to their house if it was dangerous. And Gracilynn tried explaining that he thought he was a dead man; that he was saying his good-byes. But, no matter what she said, it wasn't working. Eventually, Lisa said she had to go and before hanging up, told her to call if _she_ needed anything. The drivers' door opens and Dean climbs back in to the car, handing Gracilynn the bags of food. Gracilynn takes it and sets it on her lap, biting her tongue.

"What's wrong?" Dean asks, noticing the pensive look on his daughters' face. Gracilynn's head turns towards him.

"Hm?" she asks.

"You look like you want to say something," Dean says, calling her out.

"Oh…no. It's nothing," Gracilynn says, then changing the subject and looking through the bags, "What d'you get me to eat?"

Dean sees the topic change for what it is and mentally stores it away for later. They were going to have a talk but it obviously wasn't going to happen right now. He starts up the car and backs out of the parking space.

"A bacon cheeseburger," Dean says, pulling onto the road and heading back to the motel.

"And pie?" Gracilynn says, noticing the pie at the bottom of the bag.

"Yeah," Dean says, then answering the next question before Gracilynn even asks it. "Yes, it's apple."

"Awesome," Gracilynn says with a grin. Dean grins himself. It was the first real smile he had seen on her face in a year and a half and it was relieving to see. No, he definitely wasn't going to push anything right now. Right now, he was going to just sit and relax; enjoying his daughter's contentment.

Please review! Thanks!


	23. The Guilt

Here's the next chapter! I'm working a whole bunch this week, so not sure when the next chapter will be up. Hopefully, soon

Gracilynn leans up against the Impala. It had only been a couple days since the whole Morozko incidence, but she had witnessed her dad trying to get ahold of Lisa a few times. Yet, she hasn't told him about her own conversation with Lisa. She just didn't have the heart to tell him. She sighs and looks behind her where he dad was talking to Bobby on the phone. Something had happened during their last case between her dad and uncle but her dad wasn't telling her. The tension between the two of them had ratcheted up another notch. She looks in front of her and watches as her uncle stands in line to get them their food.

"I know what I saw, Bobby," Dean says into the phone.

"We tested him. Salt, silver…everything," Bobby replies.

"He threw me to that vamp. He practically threw Gracie to Morozko. I'm telling you, it's not my brother," Dean argues.

"Well, then he's something we ain't ever seen before," Bobby replies.

"Yeah, or it's freakin' Lucifer," Dean says, scowling.

"Did you call Cas?" Bobby asks.

"'Course I called Cas. He's not answering. Screw him. I can't wait anymore," Dean replies.

"Look, I get it. You're rattled. You're right to be. But let's be professional…" Bobby starts.

"Professional? He _watched_ me get turned! He _let_ Gracie walk right to Morozko!" Dean shouts, cutting Bobby off. Gracilynn looks over at her dad, hearing his voice rise.

"What you saw... are you sure that's what you saw?" Bobby questions.

"Damn it, Bobby, yes. I know," Dean says angrily.

"Well, "you know" ain't the same as proof. 'Cause we're talking about…" Bobby points out.

"We're talking about doing something about this, and fast. It's not just the vamp, okay? Not just the Morozko thing. He has been different from the jump. Gracie's noticed too. Fact is, _she_ came to _me_ about it," Dean says.

"All right. I'm with you," Bobby responds.

"Are you?" Dean asks.

"Yeah. I'll hit the books, hard. Just don't shoot him yet, all right? Watch him. We need facts. 'Cause if it ain't Sam... we don't know _what_ it is. And if we're gonna put him down, we need to know how," Bobby says.

"I don't even want us to ride in the same car with him, much less work a damn case," Dean says.

"Get in the car. _He's_ your case," Bobby says. Gracilynn looks over as Sam walks up to them with a newspaper and lunch in his hands. Dean walks over towards them, hanging up his phone.

"Hey. I was just, uh, I was leaving Lisa a message," Dean says.

"Still hasn't called you back, huh?" Sam asks as he hands Gracilynn a foil-wrapped hot dog.

"No," Dean says, taking the hot dog Sam hands him.

"Sucks," Sam says.

"Yeah," Dean replies.

"You okay?" Sam asks, watching Dean closely.

"Yeah. I'm fine. How are you?" Dean asks, stiffly. Gracilynn watches the exchange, trying to figure out what had happened during the Morozko case.

"Me? Great. Here, look. Check this out. Think it might be something," Sam says, handing Dean the newspaper. Gracilynn leans over and reads the paper as well. "Four people, out of nowhere, all in the last couple of weeks. What do you say?"

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan," Dean says, checking over the article.

"Let's go," Sam says, heading over to the passenger side door and climbing in. Dean hands Gracilynn the newspaper.

"Do me a favor and stay with me at all times," Dean mutters to her as he passes her by. Gracilynn gives him a curious look. Whatever had happened, it had something to do with her. She didn't trust Sam completely anymore anyways but since the last case, her dad hasn't let her out of his sight. Gracilynn nods her head and the two of them climb into the Impala.

"I don't understand. Why would federal investigators be interested in a suicide?" Olivia says. They had arrived at Olivia's house ten minutes ago. Dean was investigated the house while Sam and Gracilynn were interviewing Olivia.

"Well, um... it's a new, more caring administration," Sam explains.

"Well, I already told the cops. Jane was having a really bad day, so I-I did what any sister would do," Olivia says, playing with her hair as Dean comes into the room. "I... tried to cheer her up, you know? Told her to hang in there."

"You know what a 'tell' is?" Sam suddenly asks. Gracilynn and Dean gives Sam a weird look.

"Excuse me?" Olivia asks, confused at the question.

"It's a poker term... for when you're bluffing. Like what you just did with your hair," Sam explains.

"What are you trying to say?" Olivia asks, going on the defensive.

"You're lying," Sam accuses bluntly. Dean and Gracilynn give Sam a surprised look, taken off guard by the forces of his accusation.

"What?!" Olivia asks.

"Tell us what you did to your sister," Sam demands. Dean and Gracilynn look shocked. Olivia looks over to Dean for support. Gracilynn is surprised at seeing her uncle look like he is in the right for his accusation. Olivia breaks down.

"Okay. You're right. I was lying. I wanted to tell her, 'I love you. I'm here for you.' Oh, but what came out was... 'You're a burden. Just kill yourself.' Who says that?! I-I-I just couldn't stop!" Olivia says guiltily. The Winchesters all exchange looks, knowing there was something big going down here.

Outside of Olivia's house, the three Winchesters walk down the sidewalk towards the Impala. Sam's the first to break the silence.

"See anything in the house?" he asks Dean.

"No hex bags, no sulfur, no EMF. You?" Dean replies.

"A tuba and an issue of _Crochet Today._ So, what, already kinda suicidal?" Sam says.

"Right, and then big sis's Taxicab Confession sends her over the edge," Dean returns.

"I don't know," Gracilynn pipes up. Dean and Sam look over at her.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks.

"Well, you saw her. She was just heartbroken, she was feeling guilty," Gracilynn says.

"Well, yeah, she probly blames herself for her sisters' death," Sam says.

"It's more than that though. If you _really_ looked at her, you would've seen it too," Gracilynn says.

"Seen what?" Sam asks.

"The guilt. The kind you only get when part of the story is true. Like what if she did feel that way…to a point, not as strongly as she made it out to be but a small part of her felt that way. But she would never say it because most of her didn't feel that way," Gracilynn says.

"Question is, what made big sis open her big, fat mouth in the first place?" Dean says.

"Yeah, that _is_ the question," Sam agrees. The three hunters share a look before climbing into the Impala.

Gracilynn is lying on her bed, eyes closed, listening to her dad talk to Bobby on the phone. Sam was out doing one last interview.

"Hey. You got anything?" Dean asks into the phone. "Awesome."

Gracilynn opens her eyes and watches her dad, trying to gauge by his reactions and facial expressions, as well as his tone what is going on.

"Yeah, my skin crawls being in the same room with him. Why don't you look _that_ up?" Dean answers. Bobby says something and Dean rubs his eyes. He glances over at Gracilynn who just raises an eyebrow. "I don't know how much longer we can do this, Bobby. You got to figure out what the hell he is and fast."

Dean quickly puts the phone on speaker so Gracilynn can hear as well; he could tell by her expression she wanted to know what was going on. Gracilynn notices this and sits up, giving the conversation her undivided attention.

"I'm trying. But, Dean, there's a worst-case scenario," Bobby says.

"What, Satan's my co-pilot? Yeah, I know," Dean scoffs.

"Well, that'd be the _other_ worst case," Bobby replies.

"Well, then what?" Dean asks impatiently.

"Maybe it's just Sam," Bobby says. Gracilynn opens her mouth to say something but Dean beats her to the punch.

"I gotta go," he says.

"Dean," Bobby tries.

"You got a day, Bobby, and then I'm handling this," Dean says, effectively ending the conversation by hanging up the phone. He takes a long pull of his beer before looking over at Gracilynn, who's still watching him. "What?"

"Uncle Bobby's wrong," Gracilynn says. Dean gives her a confused expression. "It's not Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam would _never_ act like this. Something supernatural is going on."

"Yeah, I hope so kiddo," Dean says, taking another long pull from his beer. Gracilynn sighs and lays back down, closing her eyes once again. Dean pushes a few buttons on his phone and stares at Lisa's number for a while. Glancing over at Gracilynn and seeing her resting, he picks up the phone and presses send. He lets it ring once but then ends it quickly. Gracilynn opens her eyes and watches her dad, half of her screaming at her to tell him about her phone call with Lisa and the other half screaming at her to keep her mouth shut. The door opens and Dean and Gracilynn look over to see Sam dressed at an FBI agent entering the room.

"There was another one," Sam announces.

"Yeah? What?" Dean asks.

"Dentist drilled a guy to death," Sam explains.

"You mean the... non-sexy kind of drilling, right?" Dean asks, earning a disgusted look from his daughter.

"Fifty bucks says he's mixed up in all the crazy," Sam says.

"You think?" Dean asks.

"Yeah. Let's go talk to him," Sam replies, already making his way back to the door.

"Okay. Uh... why don't you go ahead? I'll catch up. I'm gonna do a little research," Dean responds. Gracilynn can see Sam doesn't believe her dad.

"You sure?" Sam asks, not really believing Dean.

"Yeah. We got to know what we're up against, right?" Dean responds.

"Yeah. Yeah, good idea," Sam says in turn before turning around and exiting the room. Gracilynn and Dean let out simultaneous sighs of relief. Gracilynn looks over at her dad and sees the anxiousness in his face, feeling the exact same way.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! Love reading your thoughts!


	24. And I Intend To Do Just That

Here's the next chapter! I know, I know. Finally! Enjoy!

"Hey dad," Gracilynn says after an hour.

"Hmm," Dean answers without looking up from the computer.

"You think we'll ever figure out what's wrong with Uncle Sam?" Gracilynn asks, watching her dad. This time Dean does look up from the computer and over at his daughter. He weighs his options before finally answering.

"I think the more we look…the more people we have looking…we'll get closer and closer to figuring it out," Dean says.

"So, in other words, you don't think we'll figure it out?" Gracilynn asks.

"I don't know about you, but I plan on looking till I find a way to bring Sammy back. And, if there's anything I know about Winchesters it's we look out for our family. And I intend to do just that," Dean says with assertion. The corners of Gracilynn's lips cork up slightly.

"Me too," she says earning an identical smile from her dad right before his phone begins ringing. Dean looks at the caller ID and glances over at Gracilynn.

"Speaking of the devil," Dean says. Gracilynn flinches slightly and Dean realizes what he has just said, silently cursing his slip of the tongue. He answers the phone and puts it on speaker. "Anything from Marathon Man?"

"Not exactly. He hung himself in his cell before I could get to him," Sam replies over the phone.

"Yikes," Dean says.

"But he was definitely involved. Just got the scoop from his assistant," Sam replies.

"Yeah?" Dean asks.

"Yeah. Let's say the stuff that his patient was confessing to…_I'd_ have murdered him, too," Sam says.

"What was that?" Gracilynn asks, curiosity getting the better of her as she climbs off her bed and walks over to the table her dad is sitting at.

"I guess the patient was sleeping with the doctor's daughter," Sam answers.

"Oh," Gracilynn says, eyebrows raised. Dean doesn't say anything but he silently agrees with Sam's statement.

"So, root canal and Russian roulette…both of 'em, it's like they were cursed, right? I mean, people are just compelled to puke the truth all over 'em?" Dean says instead.

"Oh, getting hit with the ugly truth, you go postal? I'd call that a curse. Do me a favor…I'm going to the morgue to check out the body. Why don't you two take the dentist's office, see what you see?" Sam replies.

"Yeah. No problem," Dean says, ending the call. He looks over at his computer screen, which Gracilynn notices is on a page on 'Dopplegangers', before closing it. "Guess we're going to the dentist's office.

"Yeah, guess so," Gracilynn replies, setting her book down on the table. She grabs her coat and heads out the door. Dean follows her lead and throws his own coat on and walks towards the door, stopping when something on the table catches his eye. He picks up the book Gracilynn was looking at, noticing its open to a page about different types of Shapeshifters. He looks towards the door, remembering what she had said right before Sam had called. Giving the book one last glance, he shuts it and places it back on the table before exiting the room and heading to the Impala.

Dean and Gracilynn were at Harry's house. They had found a receipt for Harry's House of Horns in both of the victims' houses and it was the only lead they had. Gracilynn had gone upstairs to "use the bathroom" while her dad interviewed Harry. So far she hadn't found anything that would lead her to think Harry had anything to do with the deaths. Gracilynn puts the EMF meter back in her coat pocket and walks back down the stairs, catching the tail end of the conversation. Dean looks up, catching her eye and she shakes her head.

"Right. Ah, I was just fishing. Thanks," Dean says to Harry, taking the pictures back and putting them in his inside pocket. Gracilynn joins her dad and the two of them begin to make their way to the door only to be stopped by Harry's voice.

"Hey, by the way, how 'bout my horn?" he asks. Dean and Gracilynn turn around and look back at him, confused by the question.

"Sorry?" Dean asks.

"Your what?" Gracilynn asks simultaneously.

"Stolen horn?" Harry clarifies.

"Right. Yeah. We're…we're working on it," Dean says before he turns to leave.

"Well, I hope so. Thing's one-in-a-billion," Harry replies.

"What makes it one-in-a-billion again?" Gracilynn asks, causing her dad to turn back around to face Harry.

"It's a museum piece. And near as anyone can tell, about a thousand years old," Harry explains, showing Dean and Gracilynn a picture of the horn.

"Where's it from?" Dean asks.

"No one knows," Harry responds.

"When did it get swiped?" Dean asks.

"About... two weeks ago …same day Jane died," Harry supplies. Dean and Gracilynn share a look.

"Well, thanks. We'll call you when we find something," Gracilynn says, shooting Harry a smile. Harry nods his head and Dean and Gracilynn exit the house.

"So, what? You think this horn is what's causing this whole mess?" Gracilynn asks her dad as they walk back in to the motel room.

"It's worth looking into," Dean says, stripping his coat, tie, and suit jacket off and throwing them on the bed. Dean takes a seat at the table and begins typing into the search engine. Gracilynn throws her jacket on the bed as well and walks over to her dad. "Hey, do me a favor."

"Yeah," Gracilynn says, letting her dad know she's listening.

"Grab the bottle of whiskey outta my bag and pour me a glass," Dean says, not taking his eyes off the computer screen. Gracilynn rolls her eyes but walks over to her dad's bag anyways and grabs the bottle. She grabs a glass from the kitchenette and sets it on the table, pouring the whiskey into it. "Thanks."

Dean picks up the glass and takes a swig, setting it back on the table. He clicks on a link and begins reading the information on the screen. Gracilynn puts the top back on the bottle, looking over at her dad when he begins speaking.

"All right, I think I found something," Dean says. Gracilynn walks over and looks at the screen, reading the title.

"Gabriel's Horn of Truth?" Gracilynn says. "Like Gabriel Gabriel?"

"I don't know. Maybe. All I know is it makes everyone you come into contact with tell you the truth whether they want to or not," Dean answers. He grabs the glass of whiskey and drains it in one gulp.

"So, call Cas?" Gracilynn asks. Dean nods his head.

"Castiel? Hello? Possible loose nuke down here, angelic weapon. Kinda your department. You hear that, Cas?" Dean says to the thin air, not really expecting Cas to show.

"Hello Dean," Cas says, appearing next to them. Dean and Gracilynn turn around to face him.

"Are you kidding me? I have been on red alert about Sam, and you come for some stupid _horn?!_" Dean asks angrily.

"You asked me to be here, and I came," Cas says.

"I… I've been asking you to be here for days, you dick!" Dean yells.

"I didn't come about Sam because I have nothing to offer about Sam," Cas explains. Gracilynn can see her dad getting more irritated.

"Well, that's great, because for all we know, he's just gift wrap for Lucifer," Dean says. Gracilynn steps between the two of them.

"All right," she says to the two of them. "Listen Cas, we understand you're busy with Heaven and all but we're pretty worried about Uncle Sam. And you could've at least stopped by for two minutes to _say_ you had nothing instead of making us think you were ignoring us. Or hurt."

Cas looks at the two of them for a minute, realizing that they did look worried. In fact, they looked like they hadn't been sleeping too well either. Cas nods his head slightly before looking at Dean, remembering his comment before Gracilynn intervened.

"No, he's... he's not Lucifer," Cas says. He grabs the bottle of whiskey and refills Deans' glass.

"And how do you know that?" Dean and Gracilynn ask.

"If Lucifer escaped the cage, we'd feel it," Cas explains.

"What is wrong with him?" Dean asks.

"I don't know, Dean. I'm sorry," Cas answers regretfully.

"What happened to you, Cas? You used to be human, or at least like one," Dean calls Cas out.

"I'm at war. Certain... regrettable things are now required of me," Cas responds.

"And Gabriel's Horn of Truth? That's a real thing?" Gracilynn asks.

"You've seen it?" Cas asks, looking from Gracilynn to Dean.

"We think it's in town. Something's forcing people..." Dean begins but the sound of angel wings fluttering cuts him off and Cas disappears. "Oh, well, you're welcome!"

Dean reaches over and takes a swig of his whiskey. Gracilynn sighs.

"It isn't the Horn of Truth," Cas says, appearing behind them, causing Dean and Gracilynn to swivel around.

"What are you talking about? You were gone for like two seconds. Where did you look?" Dean asks.

"Everywhere," Cas says.

"Right. Well, nice seeing you, anyway," Dean says tersely.

"Dean," Cas says.

"What?" Dean replies.

"About your brother. I... I don't know what's wrong with him, but I do want to help," Cas says, glancing over at Gracilynn. "I'll make inquiries."

With that, Cas disappears again.

"Yeah. Thanks," Dean says, taking another drink from his glass.

"Awesome, so now we're back to square one," Gracilynn says, not just talking about the horn.

"Yeah," Dean says, knowing she's talking about Sam as well. He takes another drink, leaving a mouthful left in the glass. He looks over at his daughter and hands her the glass. Gracilynn looks from her dad's face, to the glass, and then back to her dad's face, eyebrows raised in question. Dean just shrugs and puts the glass in her hand, grabbing his discarded items on the bed.

"Where are you going?" she asks curiously.

"Out. I'll be back in a little bit," Dean says.

"So, a bar," Gracilynn says. Dean stops and looks over at her, not sure what to say to the fact she knew exactly where he was going. Gracilynn watches as a bunch of different emotions play over his face. She looks at the glass in her hand and sighs, knowing everything that's been going on with Sam has been hard on them, especially her dad. She waves her hand at her dad.

"Go," she says. Dean looks like he's going to say something but stops, seeing in her eyes that she already understands. He nods his head slightly and leaves the room. Gracilynn watches him leave, smiling slightly before draining the last mouthful in the glass.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! Thanks for reading and following!


	25. I Didn't Mean That

Here's a quick chapter for ya'll. It's shorter but I wanted to give you another chapter seeing as how the previous one took so long. Hope you like it!

Gracilynn looks up from the computer in front of her to see her dad walk into the motel room. She gives him a confused look; she hadn't expected him back for at least another hour. Her confused grows at the hesitant look her dad gives her.

"You all right?" she asks.

"Uh…yeah. We…uh…have to go meet Sam," Dean says, picking up her coat and tossing it to her. Gracilynn catches it, but doesn't put it on just yet.

"You're okay though right? You're not having a mental breakdown or anything?" Gracilynn asks, eyeing her dad carefully.

"No, why…" Dean asks, but stops himself, not really sure he wants to know the truth.

"Well, I never know," Gracilynn says. "I mean between the job and everything else, every time the door opens I hold my breath. You're barely holding it together it's only a matter of time before I catch you in a breakdown. Hell, I just wait for the day that I'm gonna find out my fear of only having five years with you comes true and your lying on the ground dead. Torn up and bloody. Not that you care 'cause I really don't think I'm enough to keep you around. Every time I turn around your taking unnecessary risks to save others, especially Uncle Sam, completely clueless to the fact that you _do_ have another Winchester in your life that loves you."

Gracilynn's eyes grow wide and her hand instantly covers her mouth. _Shit, shit, shit. I didn't want to say that_. Dean watches his daughter immediately cover her mouth after her diatribe, seeing the panic in her eyes. He bites his cheek, trying to control the emotions rising up. What she had said hurt. Not because she had told him he was barely holding it together, because he knew he _was_ barely holding it together. Not because of anything to do with him; but because he realized just how much his daughter truly worries about him. And more importantly, the fact she thinks she not good enough to for him to stick around. He never wanted her to think that; he just tended not to think when his family was in danger, her included.

"I…I didn't…" Gracilynn says, shaking her head. "I didn't mean that. I…I don't know why I said that."

Suddenly, it hits Gracilynn and her eyes grow wide, this time in recognition.

"You're cursed," she says. "But…how?"

"You're guess is as good as mine," Dean says, trying to brush Gracilynn's honesty trip off for the time being. They were definitely going to be having a talk about this. "Come on, we have to go meet Sam."

Gracilynn nods her head and throws her jacket on trying to forget everything she just aired out to her dad. They walk out to the Impala and Gracilynn stops next to the passenger door. Dean looks over at her quizzically.

"Hey, dad?" she says.

"Yeah?" Dean replies.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"Don't worry about it. It's the curse that's it," Dean says, opening his door.

"Yeah, well, then you shouldn't call Lisa, 'cause she's really pissed at you," Gracilynn says, then freezes when she realizes what she said.

"What?" Dean asks. "How do you know that?"

"I called her," Gracilynn answers, not being able to stop herself but really hoping she shuts up soon. "After the Morozko case when we went to that diner and I stayed out in the Impala. We talked and she told me that she didn't know what the hell was going on but that she couldn't overlook the fact that you pushed Ben. I tried to explain that you were just protecting them but she had said that if it was dangerous then she didn't understand why you went there and she was having a really hard time sorting through everything right now."

Dean just looks at his daughter, not sure if he wants to yell at her for going behind his back and calling Lisa or if he wants to walk away and deal with the sudden emotions rising up once again.

"I think you should stop asking me questions," Gracilynn says softly, practically begging her dad. Dean doesn't say anything, just climbs into the car and shuts the door, starting up the vehicle. Gracilynn closes her eyes and pushes the emotions back down, cursing the curse on her dad. She opens her eyes and climbs into the car herself, shutting the door just as her dad squeals off.

Dean pulls up to Carlton Court and parks the Impala. Just as he shuts the car off, his phone rings. Dean looks at the caller ID and sees its Lisa. He looks over at Gracilynn and she takes the look as a hint. She climbs out of the Impala and shuts the door behind her, leaning up against the side of the car.

"Hey," Dean says into the phone, after Gracilynn gets out.

"So... I saw you called," Lisa says.

"Yeah, it's been crazy," Dean replies.

"Ben won't even talk about it," Lisa says, cutting right to the point.

"Lisa, I'm sorry, but this is actually the... worst time in the universe to talk. C-can we do this later?" Dean says regrettably.

"You shoved my kid, Dean. How about we do this now?" Lisa challenges.

"It wasn't like that," Dean defends.

"So, I've heard," Lisa replies. "Why don't you explain how it was then?"

"I can't really explain," Dean says.

"You want to know the truth?" Lisa asks.

"Probably not," Dean replies, not liking where this conversation is going.

"You've got so much buried in there, and you push it down. Do you honestly think that you can go through life like that and _not_ freak out? Just, what, drink half a fifth a night and you're good? You're daughters' so used to seeing you like this it doesn't even phase her anymore. In fact, she's going down the same road," Lisa says.

"You knew what you signed up for," Dean counters.

"Yeah. But I didn't expect Sam to come back. And I'm glad he's okay. I am. But the minute he walked through that door, I knew. It was over. You two have the most unhealthy, tangled-up, crazy thing I've ever seen and you're daughter's following in both your footsteps. And as long as he's in your life, you're _never gonna be happy_," Lisa continues, then, realizes what she's said. "That came out so much harsher than I meant."

"It's not your fault," Dean says, knowing it's the curse.

"I'm not saying don't be close to Sam. I'm close to my sister. But if she got killed, I wouldn't bring her back from the dead!" Lisa adds.

"Okay, Lis... I'm not gonna lie. Okay, me and Sam, we... we've got issues. No doubt. But you and Ben…" Dean says, but Lisa cuts her off.

"Me and Ben can't be in this with you. I'm sorry," Lisa cuts in, hanging up the phone and effectively ending the conversation. Dean stares at the phone for a minute before gaining control of his emotions and climbing out of the car. Gracilynn looks over at him and can tell he doesn't want to talk about it by the fact that he's not even looking over at her.

"You ready?" Dean asks, already heading into the building.

"Yeah," Gracilynn says, following after her dad.

Dean and Gracilynn walk up the stairs and end up running into Sam making his way down the stairs.

"Hey, where you been? I found something," Sam says.

"It can wait. We got to talk," Dean says determinedly.

"Yeah. What's up?" Sam says as the three Winchesters walk back down the stairs.

"There's a few things I want to ask you, and, uh, you're gonna tell me the truth," Dean says blatantly. Gracilynn hangs back a step behind but makes sure she can still hear the whole conversation.

"Uh, yeah, Dean. Of course. What are you talking about? Whoa. Are you saying _you're..._" Sam asks, realization dawning on him, looking back to Gracilynn for confirmation. Gracilynn nods her head and Sam looks back at Dean and waits for him to continue.

"I asked for the truth. And you know what? I'm getting it. So, like I said, I have a few questions for _you_. When that vamp attacked me, why did you just stand there?" Dean asks. Sam falters slightly but ends up giving Dean the puppy dog eyes. Gracilynn's own eyes narrow.

"I…I didn't. I froze," Sam replies.

"You froze. You have been Terminator since you got back," Dean points out.

"I don't know. Shock? And then it was too late. I feel terrible about it. Believe me. Dean... I can't lie here. Do you really think I would let something like that happen on _purpose?_ You're my _brother._ H…how could you even…" Sam says. Gracilynn bites her tongue, not sure if she truly believes Sam.

"Okay. Okay. Sorry. I...I thought… I thought I saw something. I... I guess I was wrong. It's just been a really, really bad day," Dean says.

"Hey. It's okay. I got your back, all right? I always have," Sam replies.

"Thanks, Sammy," Dean says. Sam nods his head and then turns and walks away. Gracilynn steps up next to her dad and watches her uncle walk away.

"You believe him?" Gracilynn asks, not taking his eyes from her uncle.

"I'm cursed. He _has_ to tell the truth right?" Dean says not real sure himself.

"Right," Gracilynn says, unconvincingly, "Of course."

Please review! Love hearing what ya'll think!


	26. I'd Do Him

Here's the next chapter! Hope ya'll enjoy!

"What are you _watching_?" Dean asks his daughter, who's sitting on the bed watching some sort of cop show.

"Criminal Minds," Gracilynn says.

"Seriously? A cop show?" Dean asks.

"Dude, it's not just a cop show. It has Derek Morgan in it," Gracilynn says as if this explains everything, which in her mind it did.

"Who?" Dean asks, confused. Gracilynn points at the screen and Dean looks over to see an African American man talking to a couple of teenagers. Dean rolls his eyes. "So?"

"Dude, he's hot," Gracilynn says, earning another eye roll from her father. Then, before she can stop herself, "I'd do him."

Dean's head whips around to look at his daughter and Gracilynn's eyes grow big, her hand clamping over her mouth. That was one thing she never thought she'd say in front of her father. Dean looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to yell at her, get sick, or hunt down this Derek Morgan guy and kick his ass.

"First of all, _you_ are _not_ doing _anyone_. And secondly? I'm gonna pretend this conversation never happened," Dean says, turning around and heading to the table and picking up an object on it. Sam smirks and looks over at his niece.

"I bet you're really hating this curse right about now huh?" Sam asks. Gracilynn just glares at him and mumbles under her breath about stupid curses making her tell the truth when she doesn't want to.

"So this was the chick's pet?" Dean says, changing the subject and holding the cat skull Sam got from Corey, one of the victims.

"Well, she was obsessed," Sam says, from his spot in front of his laptop where he's doing research. Gracilynn looks over at the skull and makes a face.

"I think you mean crazy," Gracilynn says. Dean nods in agreement.

"All right, so cat skull," Sam says, taking said skull from his brother. "Uh, grains-of-paradise seed, devil's shoestring. Mix 'em well, you got yourself a summoning spell."

"Demon?" Dean asks.

"God," Sam says, showing his brother a webpage on Veritas, the Goddess of Truth. Gracilynn gets up from the bed and peers over her dad's shoulder at the computer screen. "Corey was so desperate for the truth about her boyfriend's cheating heart, she went digging around. Nothing panned out, so she went looking for a different kind of help."

"Opened a door she couldn't close," Dean says.

"Yeah. Now anyone in town who asks aloud for the truth invokes Veritas. And she doesn't just give it to you. She slams you with it until you kill yourself and she gets her tribute," Sam explains.

"So, all that 'tribute' vanishing from the morgue. What do you think, uh, Soylent Green situation?" Dean asks.

"Gods got to eat, too. Which means we got to take her out or _you're_ on the menu," Sam points out.

"All right, well, what do we know, besides crazy cat lady?" Dean asks.

"Well, dogs are her Achilles heel," Sam begins.

"Naturally," Dean cuts in.

"And she was a pretty hands-on goddess back in the day. Her thing was coming down from the mountain to speak truth to the masses. She wanted more than tribute. She wanted to be worshipped," Sam continues.

"An attention whore," Dean states.

"If you want to put it that way," Sam replies.

"And what is the 21st-century version of speaking truth to the masses?" Dean says.

"TV," Gracilynn says. Dean nods his head and the three of them grab their coats and make their way out the door and to the Impala.

The Television studio's computer they stole is running through Sam's laptop. Dean and Sam are sitting on the edge of their beds, Gracilynn on the edge of Dean's sitting next to him. Sam's laptop is on a chair between them. Sam presses play of the recording and Ashley Frank appears on the screen and begins talking.

Dean sits back on his bed, pulling his feet up and resting them on his daughters' lap. Gracilynn shoots him a glare and Dean just smiles in return and takes a bite of his donut, holding his coffee in his other hand.

"She's creepy. I mean, the hair alone. I don't know, man. Maybe there's nothing here," Dean says, not sure about this lead.

"Maybe," Sam says, increasing the speed on the video.

Hours later finds Sam sitting in the exact same spot he was when they first started watching the video. The only change is his over-shirt is off. Dean is sitting at the table eating a piece of pizza, clothes changed. He looks over at his bed where Gracilynn is fast asleep. They had been at the video for hours which Gracilynn had proceeded to move to lean up against the wall behind the bed and ended up falling asleep. Dean didn't dare wake her. She hadn't been sleeping well since before the Morozko job, so any sleep she got he wasn't disturbing her. He knew she had been having nightmares but she was refusing to talk about them. He's pulled from his thoughts by Sam's voice.

"Hold on. Check this out," Sam says, rewinding the tape and pausing it. Dean walks over and carefully sits back on his bed, making sure not to wake his daughter up. He watches the part Sam plays.

"Zoom in on that," Dean says and Sam does just that. Ashley Frank's eyes have a non-human glow. Dean and Sam share a look, knowing they found their Truth Goddess.

The three Winchesters sit in the Impala and watch as Ashley Frank climbs into her red convertible and drives off. Dean turns on the Impala and follows after her to a gigantic, modernist house. Dean parks the Impala nearby.

"Looks pretty normal, right?" Sam asks, looking at the house.

"I'm sure inside its chock full of creep," Dean replies, seeing Ashley enter the house and the interior light turn on.

"Ready?" Dean asks, holding up three knifes.

"Yeah," Sam and Gracilynn say as Sam holds up a jar of red liquid.

"And that's...?" Dean asks.

"Dog's blood," Sam finishes.

"Do I even want to know where you got that?" Dean says, making a face.

"Probly not," Sam answers.

"Ugh," Dean and Gracilynn say, Gracilynn's face matching her dad's. Gracilynn looks over at the house and sees Ashley begin to climb her staircase. Sam takes the knives and dips them in the jar of dog's blood.

"All right, let's do this," Dean says, taking two knives. He hands one to Gracilynn. She reaches for it and Dean pulls it back, leveling her with a look. "Stay close."

Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, I know," Gracilynn says, annoyed, grabbing the knife from her dad and exiting the vehicle. Dean sighs in frustration but doesn't say anything and climbs out of the Impala himself, followed by Sam.

The three Winchesters enter the house into an expensive-looking dining and living room. The three of them look around the rooms not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

"So where's all the creep?" Sam asks as a cat walks in front of them and heads downstairs. The three of them follow the cat down the stairs. Gracilynn stops at a mosaic of Veritas, the same one on the website her uncle was on. She raises her eyebrows. _Wow, this chick is really high and mighty on herself isn't she?_ Dean and Sam stop next to her, looking at picture as well. Dean nods his head towards the cat as it enters another room and they follow the cat inside it. They see the cat on a gurney licking at a bloody, human corpse. Gracilynn makes a face. A gutted and bleeding torso is seen hanging in the middle of the room. Gracilynn points to the body of the dentist on another gurney.

"You came for dinner," Veritas says from behind them. Dean, Sam, and Gracilynn turn around to see Ashley Frank now dressed in a Goddess' garment. She waves her hand and the three hunters fly into the hanging torso. They crash to the floor next to the basin used for catching blood and lie unconscious.

I know it's short, but I was debating between updating now and doing a shorter chapter or waiting until tomorrow night and doing a longer chapter. I decided to update now and hopefully will be able to update again tomorrow as well. Please review!


	27. I Ain't A Father I'm A Killer

Here's the next chapter! A quick one for you! Enjoy!

A little while later finds the Winchesters sitting up in the basin. Dean and Gracilynn are still unconscious. Sam wakes up and realizes his hands are tied behind his back to a post. He looks over to see Veritas put their knives soaked in dog's blood into a drawer. Dean comes to, startled by the blood soaked torso hanging above them. He looks over and sees his daughter sitting next to him still unconscious. Dean feels his anger rise up but doesn't have a chance to say anything because Veritas notices they're awake.

"Mm. Sit tight," she says, pointing at the torso above them, "You're up next."

Dean looks shocked at this while Sam sneakily slips out a switchblade from his sleeve. Veritas opens the dentists' mouth and reaches inside it with pinchers. Sam opens his switchblade and communicates to Dean with a look. Dean looks over at his daughter and nudges her quietly calling her name trying to get her up. Gracilynn begins to stir and Dean looks over at Veritas seeing her pull out the Dentists' tongue. Dean makes a face.

"The tongue... is the tastiest part. It's where the lies roll off," Veritas says, taking a bite o the tongue. Dean feels like he's going to be sick and turns his attention back on his daughter, seeing her eyes being to blink open. Sam works at cutting his ropes. Gracilynn flinches back, noticing the bloody torso above her. Her attention is diverted, however, by Veritas' voice speaking up.

"Mmm. Mmm! I cannot _wait_ to eat yours. I mean, I've seen liars before, but you two?" Veritas says and then notices Gracilynn is up. "Three? Gold standard."

Veritas puts the tongue down and walks away. Sam continues to work at his ropes. Gracilynn makes a disgusted face at the tongue having seen the bite mark in it.

"Point of professional pride," Dean says. Veritas walks over and stands in front of Dean.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, Dean. You know what happens when you base your life on lies, right? The truth comes along and... So, while you've still got your tongue, God knows you've got an earful," Veritas says, making it a point to look at Gracilynn. Sam's knife cuts the rope and Veritas sits down next to Dean. Gracilynn just glares at her.

"I think it's your turn to spill some. How 'bout we play a little truth or truth? What should we ask Dean first, hmm? Something... Personal about you?" Veritas says, looking over at Sam. "Hey, Dean, I'm curious. What do you really feel about your brother?"

Dean's hesitant at first but eventually answers the question.

"Better now. As of yesterday, I wanted to kill him in his sleep," Dean says, causing a surprised look on Sam's face. "I thought he was a monster. But now I think..."

"Now you think what?" Veritas asks, prodding him to continue.

"He's just acting like me," Dean says.

"What do you mean?" asks Veritas.

"It's the gig," Dean says. Sam almost has his rope cut completely. "You're covered in blood until you're covered in your own blood. Half the time, you're about to die. Like right now. I told myself I wanted out... that I wanted a _family_. For Gracie to have a _family_."

Gracilynn looks over at her dad. She wasn't sure if she should listen to this because her dad normally wouldn't be saying this and she felt as if she was intruding. Besides the fact, she already had a family. She had him and Uncle Sam, even if he was acting psycho, and Uncle Bobby. She didn't _need_ anyone else.

"But you were lying," Veritas states. Gracilynn looks over at Veritas.

"No. But what I'm good at... is slicing throats. I ain't a father. I'm a killer. And there's no changing that. I know that _now_," Dean confesses, not looking over at his daughter. Gracilynn's head whips around to her dad. _What the hell is he talking about? Of course he's a father. Dammit, he's _my _father_.

"But you have Gracilynn, your daughter?" Veritas says.

"Yeah, well a real father would stay in one place. Send them to school and make sure they were safe. _Not_ drag them all around the damn country and put them in danger every minute of the day. She should be hanging out with friends and getting into trouble. Looking at colleges. Being a teenager. Not worrying about whether or not it's the last time she'll see her family or kidnapped or about to die. It takes more than DNA to make someone a father," Dean says. Gracilynn feels her eyes begin to prickle and she has to look away from her dad. She didn't know why he thought this. She sure as hell didn't. Veritas pats Dean on the shoulder and gets up and walks over to Sam.

"But you're here now. Not at home with a family. Keeping your daughter safe," Veritas says.

"Like I said, _this_ is what I'm good at. And if I could I'd leave her where she'd be safe but she's a Winchester. She'd never let me," Dean says.

"So, Sam walking back into your life must have been a relief. Hmm? Mallory to your Mickey. And how do you feel about the band getting back together? Hmm, Sam?" Veritas says, turning the attention onto Sam. She sits down next to him.

"Look... what we do... is hard," Sam says. Dean looks around and sees a hook. He nudges Gracilynn with his knee and catches her eye, trying to ignore the wetness in them, and shoots a glance over at the hook. Gracilynn looks in the direction and notices the same thing her dad did. "But...we watch out for each other. All three of us."

Dean catches Sam's eye and they form a plan. Dean looks over and communicates with his daughter what their plan is.

"And that's what's important. And that's it. That's the truth," Sam says.

"No. No, it's _not_," Veritas says, getting angry. Gracilynn and Dean look over at them, confused at the sudden change in mood.

"You said yourself…I can't lie," Sam responds.

"How are you doing that? That's not possible. You're _lying_ to me!" Veritas yells, getting angrier by the second.

"No I'm not!" Sam yells back.

"What are you?!" Veritas asks Sam, then addresses Dean and Gracilynn. "What is he?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam defends. Dean and Gracilynn are confused.

"Really? I doubt that. I doubt anything that comes out of your mouth right now. You're not human," Veritas says.

"What?" Dean asks. Gracilynn stares at her uncle.

"You didn't know that? Now, _that_ I believe," Veritas says to Dean.

Sam cuts through the rope and tosses the knife to Dean. Sam grabs one of the blood soaked knives and runs at Veritas. Veritas punches him a few times, knocking him backwards. Sam falls to the floor and the knife falls from his hand. Veritas jumps at the opportunity and begins choking Sam. Dean cuts through his rope and hands Gracilynn the knife. He grabs the hook and impales Veritas through the back. Veritas turns around and her human face is replaces with her true one. Gracilynn cuts through distracted. She stabs the knife into her heart, shoving her down, Veritas' body half in the basin. Gracilynn yanks the knife out and stands up, turning around to look over at her dad and uncle, seeing her dad wielding the knife at her uncle.

"Dean, it's me," Sam says, trying to convince him. Gracilynn watches, not knowing what to do.

"You are _not_ my brother," Dean says, backing Sam around the basin, making sure Gracilynn is behind himself at all times.

"Just listen," Sam says.

"What are you?!" Dean yells.

"I'm me, Dean. Look, please, just let me explain," Sam says, trying to keep his brother calm.

"Why the hell should I believe anything you say?" Dean says, anger in his voice.

"Okay, okay. You want the truth? Here it is. Here it is. God's honest. She was right. There's something wrong with me, really wrong. I've known it for a while. I lied to you. Yeah. And...I let you get turned by that vamp. Because I _knew there was a cure, Dean_, and we _needed_ in that nest! And I knew you could handle it!" Sam says, getting louder as he goes on.

"Handle it?! I could've died! I could've killed Ben! I could've killed Gracie!" Dean yells.

"And that should stop me cold. But I…I just don't _feel_ it," Sam confesses.

"You what?" Dean asks, not sure if he should believe him.

"Ever since I came back, I am a…a better hunter than I've ever been! Nothing scares me anymore! 'Cause I can't _feel_ it. I don't know what's wrong with me. I think... I need help," Sam continues, looking concerned.

Dean is emotional and turns away, but turns back to face his brother. Gracilynn watches, taking everything in, what her uncle has said, his body language. She tries to put everything together, seeing her uncle look hopeful and her dad hesitant. Which is when her dad does something she never thought he would do. Dean punches Sam and Sam stumbles backwards and onto the floor. Gracilynn watches in horror as her dad sits on him and punches him repeatedly and brutishly. She snaps out of it quickly and runs over, grabbing her dad's hand and pulling him back.

"Dad! Dad!" Gracilynn yells, seeing her uncle lying unconscious on the floor. Dean stops and looks over at her.

"You heard her! You saw everything he did!" Dean yells, confused as to why she'd be protecting him.

"Because I think he's telling the truth. And I think it is Uncle Sam just…like he said…something's wrong with him," Gracilynn says, trying to get her dad to listen to her.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asks, confused.

"I saw him dad. A few times this past year. I thought I was going crazy, just seeing things. But after finding out he was truly up here again, I knew I was really seeing him. Almost as if he was making sure we were okay. If this isn't really Uncle Sam then why would he do that?" Gracilynn explains.

"Because maybe he wasn't making sure we were okay. Maybe he was waiting for the right time to attack," Dean argues.

"If that was the case he would've done it by now. He's had _plenty_ of opportunity. Especially during that year," Gracilynn counters. Dean's jaw tightens as he silently fights with himself about what his daughter has said. Part of him wants to believe it because that would mean they would still have a chance. Another part of him didn't want to get his hopes up. "At least call Cas and see what he thinks."

Dean doesn't say anything just nods his head. He could do that. The least he could do was be absolutely sure before he did anything else stupid. Gracilynn lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Yeah, things were messed up, but maybe they'd catch a break and finally figure out what is going on. Maybe.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! Don't worry there will be a Dean and Gracie moment Prolly, in the next chapter.


	28. It Is A Big Deal

Here's the next chapter! And as promised a little Dean/Gracilynn moment!

Gracilynn watches as her dad ties her uncle up to the chair. He was still unconscious, but they weren't sure what was going to happen when he woke up; they wanted to be safe and not sorry.

"So, what do we do now?" Gracilynn asks as Dean finishes tying Sam up. Dean looks back at her and stands up, turning to face her.

"Now, we have a little talk and then we call Cas," Dean says. Gracilynn gives him a confused expression.

"A talk? _You_ want to talk?" Gracilynn asks, not sure what her dad even wants to talk about. However, maybe this was a good thing, because she definitely wanted to talk to her dad about what he told Veritas earlier.

"Why would you think you weren't enough to keep me around?" Dean asks.

"What do you mean?" Gracilynn asks, feigning innocence. She had hoped he had forgotten about that; fact was, she thought he did forget about it. She should've known better.

"Back at the hotel room. You said you didn't think you were enough to keep me around," Dean says. Gracilynn looks over at him, not wanting to really get into this. She silently curses Veritas once again. Dean's gaze is still on her and Gracilynn knows she isn't getting out of this one.

"It's not a big deal," Gracilynn says, shrugging. She was hoping her uncle would wake up and save her from this conversation.

"It is a big deal," Dean counters. "You're my daughter. Believe me when I say this, you _are_ enough to keep me around."

Gracilynn looks over at him, irritation growing inside her.

"Then why are you always taking risks. Risks where you can die," Gracilynn challenges.

"People need to be saved Gracie. It's part of the job," Dean says.

"Not the everyday risks dad," Gracilynn says. "I'm talking about with Uncle Sam. I get it. He's your brother and you'd do _anything_ to save him; you'd die for him. I wouldn't expect anything less. But _I'm_ the one that gets left behind. _I'm_ the one that has to face the fact that my dad wasn't happy enough with me he had to…"

Gracilynn stops herself and forces a swallow. She had said too much and she mentally berated herself for doing it. On top of that she could feel her eyes begin to water. Dean watches as his daughter stops and tries to control her emotions. He could feel his eyes begin to prickle; he never intended for Gracilynn to feel this way.

"Gracie," Dean says, but Gracilynn doesn't look up. "Hey, Gracie. Look at me."

This time Gracilynn does look up. Dean forces his own swallow having seen the unshed tears in his daughters' eyes. He forces his emotions down as much as he can and looks his daughter straight in the eyes.

"Listen to me, and listen closely because I'm only gonna say this once. You're right. I'd die for Sam. But I'd die for you too. And you are _more_ than enough to make me happy. But I can't live with Sam dead. I couldn't live with you dead. I would rather die knowing you two are alive and safe than be alive knowing even one of you is being hurt. Taking those risks has _nothing_ to do with you not being enough. It has everything to do you two being safe," Dean says. "And maybe I don't say this enough but you're my daughter and I love you. And I wouldn't change anything except for you to have a family and not be in danger all the time."

Gracilynn feels a tear fall and she angrily wipes it away. She takes in everything her dad says and nods her head.

"Okay," she says.

"Okay," Dean replies, pulling out his phone to call Cas.

"Except for one thing," Gracilynn says, figuring she might as well get this over with seeing as how they are already knee deep in a chick-flick moment. Dean looks over at her, eyebrows raised, finger hovering over the buttons.

"What's that?" Dean asks, not sure he wants to know as he puts his phone back in his pocket.

"I _do_ have a family. It's you and Uncle Sam. And contrary to what you seem to believe, you're an awesome father. The best one there is," Gracilynn says and Dean scoffs. "I wouldn't change _anything_ about my life. Is it dangerous? Hell yeah. But I got you to keep me safe. Could I live a normal life? Go to college? Yeah, but I won't unless you and Uncle Sam are there. Besides, we get to help people doing this. And yeah, you're right. It does take more than DNA to be a father. And you're it. You do everything a father should do. You keep me safe. You've taught me everything I know. You take care of me. Hell, you even pull out a chick-flick moment when you need to. You _are_ a real father. You're _my_ real father. And I wouldn't trade you for anything. You're my dad and I love you too."

Now, it's Dean's turn to angrily wipe away a wayward tear. If he was in doubt before about his success at being a good father, he wasn't now. Was he perfect? No. But if Gracilynn believed in him, then he could too. Dean gives Gracilynn a small smile and she returns it right before she gives him a big hug. Dean wraps his arms around her and gives her a squeeze.

"Well, if you believe in me then I guess I can believe in me too," Dean says. Gracilynn's smile grows bigger and she pulls away from her dad.

"Good, because my next plan was to wish upon a star and ask the blue fairy to turn you into a real father," Gracilynn says, with a smirk.

"Smart ass," Dean says, smirking himself. Dean pulls his phone back out and dials Cas' number, putting his phone to his ear. "Hey, Cas. Listen we need you to meet us. I think we've got a lead on what's going on with Sam."

Gracilynn listens as her dad tells Cas where they are and hangs up the phone, putting it away. Dean looks over at his daughter and sees her try to stifle a yawn.

"Alright, Japeto. Bedtime," Dean says, giving Gracilynn a slight shove towards one of the beds.

"Dad, I'm not four," Gracilynn complains.

"No, but you haven't been sleeping good lately and you look exhausted," Dean says.

"I'm fine," Gracilynn argues.

"You look like crap," Dean counters, "Now go to bed."

"Fine," Gracilynn says, sighing in frustration. Dean waits for her to climb into bed and close her eyes before taking his phone back out and calling Bobby to give him an update on everything that went down.

Sam grunts and groans as he begins to wake up from unconsciousness. Dean and Gracilynn stand by and watch. Cas had just gotten there and was looking at Sam curiously.

"You're right. He looks terrible," Cas says to Dean. Sam groans and stirs awake. Cas looks over to Dean again. "You did this?"

"Cas? What's…," Sam says, opening his eyes and seeing Cas standing before him. Cas grabs him and looks into his face, trying to find something wrong with him. Sam grunts. "Let me go."

"Has he been feverish?" Cas says, letting go of Sam and looking at Dean.

"Have you?" Dean asks Sam.

"No. Why?" Sam asks, wondering what's going on.

"Is he speaking in tongues?" Cas asks Dean again, then turns to Sam to ask him instead, realizing probably doesn't know. "Are you speaking in tongues?"

"No. What are you... Are you diagnosing me?" Sam says realization dawning on him.

"You better hope he can," Dean replies, arms crossed.

"You really think that this is…" Sam says, trying to wrap his head around all of this.

"What, you think that there's a clinic out there for people who just pop out of hell wrong? He asks, you answer! Then you shut your hole. You got it?" Dean says angrily.

"How much do you sleep?" Cas asks Sam.

"I don't," Sam answers.

"At all?" Dean asks surprised.

"Not since I got back," Sam confesses.

"And it never occurred to you that there might be something off about that?!" Dean yells.

"Of course it did, Dean. I…I just never told you," Sam says.

"What?" Dean asks.

"There's a surprise," Gracilynn says sarcastically.

"Sam... What are you feeling now?" Cas asks him. Sam scoffs.

"I feel like my nose is broken," Sam answers irritated.

"No, that's a physical sensation. How do you feel?" Cas asks again.

"Well, I think…" Sam begins.

"Feel," Cas interrupts.

"I... don't know," Sam says.

"How do you not know how you feel?" Gracilynn asks as Cas begins rolling up his sleeve. Sam notices this.

"What? Uh…" Sam begins.

"This will be unpleasant," Cas announces.

"What…" Sam begins but doesn't know what to say to this.

"Bite down on this. If there's someplace that you find soothing, you should go there. In your mind," Cas replies.

"Cas?" Gracilynn asks, looking from Cas to her Uncle to her dad and back to Cas again. Cas suddenly shoves his hand into Sam's chest and Sam begins screaming. His back arches in pain and he tries to stifle his screams but it doesn't work. Cas pulls his hand back out and Sam is breathing heavy. Dean looks over at Cas.

"Did you find anything?" Dean asks.

"No," Cas replies.

"So that's good news?" Gracilynn asks.

"I'm afraid not. Physically, he's perfectly healthy," Cas replies.

"Then what?" Dean asks.

"It's his soul. It's gone," Cas reveals. Gracilynn's eyes grow wide and she stares at her uncle. Dean scoffs.

"Um... I'm s…I'm sorry. One more time, like I'm 5. What do you mean, he's got no…" Dean says, not sure he heard Cas right.

"Somehow, when Sam was resurrected, it was without his soul," Cas repeats.

"So, where is it?" Dean asks, looking over at Sam.

"My guess is... Still in the cage with Michael and Lucifer," Cas responds.

"So, is he even still Sam?" Dean asks.

"Well, you pose an interesting philosophical question," Cas says.

"Well, then, just get it back," Dean demands.

"Dean," Cas says.

"Well, you pulled me out," Dean challenges.

"It took several angels to rescue you, and you weren't nearly as well guarded. Sam's soul is in Lucifer's cage. There's a difference, a big difference. It's not possible," Cas replies.

"Well, there has to be a way right?" Gracilynn asks.

"So, are you gonna untie me?" Sam asks.

"No," Dean says bluntly.

"Listen, I'm not gonna…" Sam starts, but Dean cuts him off.

"Sam, how the hell am I even supposed to let you out of this room?" Dean asks him.

"Dean, I'm not some psycho. I didn't want you to get hurt. I was just trying to stop the vamps," Sam defends. Gracilynn snorts.

"Yeah, but the real you would've done that _without_ turning dad into a vampire," Gracilynn points out. Sam sighs.

"I'm sorry. It won't ever happen again. Please let me go," Sam gives in.

"You're kidding, right?" Dean asks.

"Well, what are you gonna do, just keep me locked up in here forever?" Sam asks.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Dean counters.

"Okay, fine, look, I get it. I get it, Dean. I was wrong. But I'm telling you I-I'm trying to get right. It's still me," Sam pleads.

"Is it?" Dean asks, unbelievingly.

"Yes. So just let me go," Sam answers.

"No way in hell," Dean says, not giving in. Sam sighs again.

"I didn't want it to come to this. You're not gonna hold me, Dean…Not here, not in a panic room, not anywhere. You're stuck with the soulless guy, so you might as well work with me," Sam points out. Dean studies him for a minute before looking over at Gracilynn, catching her eye. "Let's fix this."

"We're," Dean says, pointing at him and Gracilynn, "gonna be watching every move you make."

"Fine. Sounds about right to me," Sam agrees.

"Cas, clean him up," Dean orders and Cas complies. "All right, if we're gonna figure out what happened to your soul, then we need to find who yanked you out. You say you don't know?"

"No idea," Sam replies.

"Then we start a list. If it's so hard to spring someone out of the box, then who's got that kind of muscle?" Dean asks everyone in the room.

"I don't know," Cas replies, then turns to ask Sam, "You have no memory of your resurrection?"

"I woke up in a field. That's all I got," Sam replies.

"No clues? None?" Dean asks him.

"I've got one," Sam says, sharing a look with his brother.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think!


	29. You Really Believe That?

Here's another chapter for ya'll! Glad you're all still loving it!

Gracilynn lies in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. They were in Buffalo, New York and even though they found some answers, they acquired more questions. Like the fact that her uncle had no soul but Samuel does. Or how Samuel is capturing Alphas for Crowley for God knows what. Or the fact that Crowley pulled both Uncle Sam and Samuel out of hell and that Samuel knew this and didn't say anything when they went to see him. Oh, and did she mention the fact that they were now working for Crowley in order to get Uncle Sam's soul back? Gracilynn sighs. And the last hunt they just finished here? Well, after seeing a skinwalker take the shape of the family dog she will never look at a dog the same way again. In fact, she'll never look at a pet the same way again. Just the thought of any animal being a man and watching her…A shiver runs down Gracilynn's back. Talk about creepy. Not to mention the fact that all of the skinwalkers were just waiting for a signal to attack. Gracilynn looks over at one of the beds and sees her uncle laying in it. She knew he wasn't sleeping; he had said he didn't sleep. Which meant he was watching them which was just as creepy as the damn skinwalker pets. Gracilynn looks back up at the ceiling and bites her bottom lip. She though back to what the three of them had talked about earlier today. Hearing her uncle say he didn't care about them hurt. Much more than she thought it would considering this wasn't _really_ her uncle. Even still, it was his body, his voice that said it. Gracilynn hears Sam's sheets rustle as he shifts on his bed. Gracilynn rolls over to face her dad's bed, curling herself up in her blankets. They were going to get Sam back. She would make sure of that.

"I think I found us a job," Sam says, clicking a couple buttons on his computer. Dean and Gracilynn look up from their magazines. It was only ten in the morning and they were supposed to be taking the day off after the skinwalker hunt. Gracilynn wasn't buying it. She hadn't been sleeping well and last night was no exception and she knew her dad knew about it. She knew the reason he suggested taking the day off was to allow her to rest up before they went off on another hunt.

"Yeah?" Dean asks with mild curiosity, glancing over at his daughter. Gracilynn doesn't miss it and just rolls her eyes.

"Yeah. A bunch of people were found murdered in their apartments, kids and adults alike," Sam asks.

"All murdered the same way?" Gracilynn asks, intrigued.

"Yeah, all beaten to death," Sam says.

"So, some psycho is targeting these people," Dean replies.

"All the doors and windows were locked. How would they have gotten in?" Sam counters. Dean sighs.

"Where is it?" Dean asks. "It better not be too far…"

"Niagara Falls, New York," Sam interrupts. "Only about a fifteen, twenty minute drive from here."

"All right. I guess we're going to see one of the seven wonders," Dean sighs, climbing off the couch and beginning to pack his bag. He was hoping they'd be able to rest for a day or so. Gracilynn hadn't been sleeping too well and he wanted her to get a chance to catch up on her rest.

"You think we can actually go see it afterwards?" Gracilynn asks, trying not to get her hopes up. Dean looks up at her and sees the almost hidden hope in her eyes.

"I don't see why not," he says. He might not be able to give her the white picket fence, puppy, and apple-pie life but he could at least allow her these little moments.

"Awesome," Gracilynn whispers under her breath, grinning to herself. Dean can't help the smile that plays over his lips at the silent cheer. _Yup, definitely worth it_.

Dean lays on his horn for what seemed to be the tenth time since they arrived in Niagara Falls.

"Seriously! How do these people pass their drivers' test!" he yells. He was gripping the steering wheel in aggravation and the scowl on his face seemed to be permanently put on his face. He puts on his breaks and curses under his breath as another car cuts in front of him only to make a right hand turn moments later. "Really?! 'Cause waiting the two point five seconds longer to get to the street was so horrible you had to cut me off!"

"Dean, relax," Sam says, trying to calm his brother down.

"Sam! It's not like I'm going _slow_. The speed limits 30 through here and I'm going _35_," Dean says.

"Do you want me to drive?" Sam asks, the only answer a stony glare from his brother. Sam puts his hands up in surrender. "Okay, just asking."

"I could drive," Gracilynn offers only to get the same stony glare from her father. "Never mind."

"Just help me find a damn motel," Dean growls. The sooner he got off the road the less chance he had of shooting someone. Although, from the looks of half the people around them, he supposed they'd be packing as well.

"There's a whole bunch of them coming up," Sam points out and Dean pulls into one that looks affordable.

"Caravan Motel? Really?" Gracilynn asks with a quirk of her eyebrow. Dean gives her a look and Gracilynn shuts her mouth.

"Stay here while I get us a room," Dean says, parking the Impala. He exits the vehicle and heads into the office area. Minutes later, Dean comes back out and drives the Impala and parks it in front of Room number six. The three Winchesters climb out of the car and grab their bags, Sam and Gracilynn following Dean inside the room. Gracilynn looks around and notices there are only two beds in the room.

"There's only two beds," Gracilynn points out.

"I don't need one so it's fine," Sam chimes in.

"Right," Gracilynn agrees none too enthusiastically. Sam throws his bag on the floor by the wall and sits at the table, pulling out his computer and beginning to do some more research on the job. Gracilynn and Dean toss their own bags onto their respective beds .

"I'm gonna go grab something to eat," Dean announces, pulling his keys back out. Gracilynn's head jolts up.

"I'm coming with you," she says, grabbing her coat and heading out the door before her dad can protest.

"Uh…okay, I guess she's coming with me," Dean says. Sam nods his head and waves them off without looking up from his computer. Dean wants to say something but bites his tongue and exits the room, shutting the door behind him. He climbs into the Impala and starts her up, driving onto the road and down the street, looking for a fast food restaurant they can stop at. Gracilynn looks over at her dad, seeing him looking annoyed.

"What?" she asks.

"What what?" Dean counters, not sure what his daughter is asking.

"You look aggravated," Gracilynn points out, "Not that that's new but…"

"Ha-ha," Dean replies, not answering Gracilynn's question.

"Is it Sam?" Gracilynn asks. Dean doesn't say anything, just puts on his blinker and waits for the road to clear to pull into Denny's. It wasn't fast food but it was definitely way better. Gracilynn sighs. Dean looks over at her and sighs himself.

"Yeah, it's Sam," Dean answers, looking at traffic and finally making the left turn into Denny's parking lot.

"And?" Gracilynn prods.

"I don't know," Dean says, not really wanting to unload his problems onto his daughter. Gracilynn senses this and calls him out on it.

"Ya know, Sam might be your brother but he's my uncle too," Gracilynn says. Dean looks over at her with a confused expression. "Which means this soulless thing isn't _your_ problem, it's _our_ problem."

"Yeah, I know," Dean sighs. "It's just…It's like working with a damn robot."

"Yeah," Gracilynn says, looking out the windshield of the parked Impala. "But…"

Dean looks over at her when she doesn't continue.

"But what?" he asks, noticing her biting her bottom lip.

"Even though he's soulless, I still think there is some part of Uncle Sam in him still," Gracilynn continues. She looks over at her dad.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks.

"I mean, this past year? When Sam was 'gone'? When I said I saw him," Gracilynn tries to explain.

"Yeah, about that. When exactly did you see him?" Dean asks.

"Um…that night I spilled the drink all over the table at Lisa's," Gracilynn starts.

"Wait, the first week we were there?" Dean asks.

"Yeah," Gracilynn answers.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Dean asks, getting angry.

"'Cause I just thought I was seeing things; ya know, just missing him too much," Gracilynn bites back.

Dean bites his tongue. He would've done the same thing so no sense in starting an argument over it. He looks over at Gracilynn and sees her watching him carefully.

"Okay, so when else?" he asks.

"One time when I was in class. I could've sworn I saw him standing across the street watching me through the window," Gracilynn answers. "And then when we were on the bus leaving for our Junior trip."

Dean sighs and rubs a hand over his face. Gracilynn looks out the window before turning back to her dad when he speaks up.

"So because of this you think some small part of Sammy is in there still," Dean says. Gracilynn shrugs.

"It makes sense. I mean he said it the other day. He doesn't give a shit about us," Gracilynn says.

"Language," Dean says. Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"He doesn't care what happens; he's going through the motions. But if that was the case then he wouldn't have stopped by. He would've left us well-enough alone. It was almost like a small part of him _knew_ he had to watch out for us," Gracilynn says.

"You really believe that?" Dean says. Gracilynn thinks about this, watching her dad for a moment before answering.

"I have to," she says, exiting the Impala and heading into the restaurant.

"I hope you're right kiddo," Dean says, exiting the Impala himself and following his daughter into the building.

Please review! Love hearing what everyone thinks!


	30. Knowin' They Did It To Save You

Here's the next chapter! And as it's been asked for by many readers, a flashback.

"Okay, so I think I've found a connection," Sam says to Dean and Gracilynn. They had just gotten back from their food run and were stuffing their mouths with the food they ordered.

"What's that?" Dean asks around a mouthful of food.

"All of the victims weren't actually residents at Blakely Apartments," Sam says.

"Huh?" Dean and Gracilynn say at the same time.

"They were guests; just visiting people who actually lived there. And all of the murders happened at night," Sam explains.

"Okay," Gracilynn says, swallowing her food, "So, why would whatever is doing this target people who don't even live there and not the people who do? Seems like it'd be easier to go after the residents. I mean, they _live_ there."

"You find anything on the history of the building?" Dean asks.

"Actually yeah," Sam answers, "Last year there was a home invasion. The guys who broke in to one of the apartments ended up killing a teenager who lived there. Beat him to death."

"Sounds to me like we need to go talk to the family," Dean says, throwing his garbage in the trash.

"Yeah," Sam says, standing up and grabbing his suit. Gracilynn shoves the last bite of her sandwich in her mouth and throws out her own garbage, grabbing her own clothes.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dean asks.

"With you," Gracilynn says.

"In the middle of the ghetto. No way in hell am I bringing _you_ there," Dean says.

"Fine," Gracilynn replies. A smug look appears on Dean's face at the win but then instantly turns to suspiciousness.

"What?" he asks.

"I'll stay. I mean someone has to stay and guard our stuff," Gracilynn says.

"Guard our stuff? Why?" Dean asks.

"Well, from people trying to break in. It happens a lot in cities. At least this way I can be here to stop them. All by myself. With no back up," Gracilynn says. "Well, I mean I'll have you guys. You'll only be a call away. You'll only be what? Five minutes away?"

"Closer to twenty," Sam corrects, exiting the bathroom and hiding a smirk at Gracilynn's antics.

"Oh, well, yeah. Twenty minutes shouldn't be a problem. I mean if you're driving," Gracilynn says to her dad, "It'll only be like ten. But then again, most of the speed limits around here are thirty or thirty-five and the cops are real douchebags…"

"Fine. You can come," Dean says, yanking his suit out of his bag and going into the bathroom to get changed.

"What?" Gracilynn asks her uncle when she notices his smirk.

"Nothing," he says, shoving his clothes into his bag and powering down his laptop. "Just that it was so obvious what you were doing I'm surprised it worked."

"I play to his strengths," Gracilynn says, "Or weaknesses. However you wanna look at it."

"And that is?" Sam asks.

"Being an overprotective dad…and older brother," Gracilynn says, smiling and walking over to the bathroom as Dean exits it, shutting the door behind her. Sam looks over at Dean.

"You do realize…?" he begins to ask Dean.

"Yeah, I know," Dean bites out.

"And you still…?" Sam continues.

"Shut up Sam," Dean cuts him off and exits the motel room.

"So, your son was the only one home the night of the break in Mrs. Smith?" Dean asks.

"No, my daughter was there as well," Tiyanna Smith answers.

"But I thought your son was the only one that was murdered?" Sam asks.

"H…he was," she answers.

"So, how did your daughter escape?" Sam asks, trying to figure out what went down that night. Just then the front door slam closed and a girl of about sixteen walks into the room, stopping as she takes in the people in the living room.

"Arianna," Mrs. Smith says, "These are Agents Bonham and Scott and Gracilynn Bonham, their intern. They need to talk to you about the break-in."

"I thought we were done with this," Arianna Smith says.

"Some new evidence has been found and we're re-opening the case," Dean says.

"Could you tell us what happened that night?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, sure. That's just what I want to do. Relive my brothers' death over and over again," Arianna snaps.

"Please Arianna," Gracilynn steps in. "Anything that happened that night could help us catch the guys that did this to your brother."

Arianna glares at Gracilynn, but eventually caves in.

"Fine," she says angrily, sitting down in a chair across from them. "What do you wanna know?"

"Well, let's start at the beginning?" Gracilynn says.

"We were home, waitin' for mom to get home from work. It was late and we hear a noise. Brayden goes to check it out. He come back sayin' some guys were tryin' to break in. Made me hide in the closet. Told me to call 9-1-1. Lotta good that did us. Next thing I know, I hear thumpin' and grunts. They break the table and I hear my brother yellin' at them to get out. Then…then, I hear them beatin' on somethin'. When they were done, they trashed the house and took what they wanted. They left after that and I come out. I go in the Living Room and see my brother lyin' on the floor. Bloody. Not movin'," Arianna says.

"Is that it?" Sam asks.

"What? 'Sides the fact my brother died saving my ass," Arianna says.

"Arianna," Tiyanna warns.

"No. They say they wanna help. How can they help?!" Arianna yells at her mom before turning to face the Winchesters. "You can't help. You know what it's like seein' someone who takes care of you die in front of you?! Knowin' they did it to save you?!"

Gracilynn's breath hitches in her throat.

"Screw this!" Arianna yells standing up and stomping out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Tiyanna turns to look at the three Winchester before her.

"Sorry. Arianna took it pretty hard. She hasn't been the same since. She's been skippin' school, not doin' her homework, gettin' in fights. I think she blames herself for not findin' a way to save Brayden," Tiyanna explains.

"It's okay. We understand," Gracilynn says, forcing a smile on her face.

"We'll call you if we need anything else," Dean says, standing up and shaking Mrs. Smith's hand. Tiyanna nods her head and following the 'Agents' to the door. Dean gently pushes Gracilynn ahead of him and the three of them exit the apartment and make their way to the Impala. They all climb in and Gracilynn stares out the window, seeing Arianna sitting on a stone wall, smoking. She finds her thoughts begin to drift to when she was dealing with something very similar to Arianna's problem.

_Gracilynn sits in the chair in the office. Her dad was in the Principal's office talking about her. It _was_ her fault. She had started the fight over something stupid and then next thing she knew she was throwing punches. Two teachers and rushed in and separated her and the other girl and led them straight to the Principals office. Their parents had been called and Gracilynn knew she was going to get reamed out by her dad. At least the other girls' parents got their first so when it happened she wouldn't be there to witness it. Her dad had been pissed though when he entered the office. He had to leave work, again, to come to the school and was going to find out she was being suspended, yet again. The Principal's door opens and Gracilynn's head shoots up to see her dad exit the room. He doesn't look at her the whole time not even when he talks to her._

_ "Grab your stuff," Dean grinds out, walking past her, not waiting for her, just expecting her to catch up. Gracilynn grabs her coat and backpack and hurries after her dad. They make it to the truck and he unlocks her door, still not looking at her or saying anything else. Gracilynn climbs into the vehicle and quickly puts her seatbelt on as her dad starts it up and takes off towards Lisa's house. About halfway there, Dean pulls over onto a wide shoulder and turns the truck off, hands gripping the steering wheel, eyes boring into the windshield. Gracilynn just waits for the explosion to happen, which if she admits it, is probably the most stressful thing she's ever done._

_ "What the _hell_ were you thinking Gracilynn?" Dean growls out, missing the flinch from Gracilynn at his word choice. "You've only been in school for two months and you've already gotten into _three_ fights."_

_ "Dad…" Gracilynn begins._

_ "I'm _not_ done," Dean interrupts her, "It's not like we can just pick up and leave if something goes wrong. We live here now."_

_ "Yeah, well, that damn well wasn't my idea," Gracilynn growls back. Dean finally looks over at her and Gracilynn wishes he hadn't. He was _pissed_. _

_ "This isn't easy for me either Gracilynn," Dean says._

_ "Yeah, well, we should be looking for a way to get him out," Gracilynn all but yells._

_ "We _have_ looked. For three months we've looked. There is _nothing_ out there that can get him back," Dean says, raising his own voice._

_ "Whatever," Gracilynn says, turning to look out her window._

_ "You're pissed. I get it. But starting fights every three damn weeks isn't going to solve anything. Getting suspended just as much isn't gonna either. The most it's gonna do is get people involved we don't wanna get involved," Dean says angrily. Gracilynn doesn't say anything, just continues to glare out the window. "We've got something good here…"_

_ "No dad. We had something good. And douchebags screwed it to hell. Literally," Gracilynn argues, turning to stare at her dad._

_ "It's done and over with. There's nothing we can do about it," Dean deadpans._

_ "And how many times have you rehearsed _that_ in the mirror?" Gracilynn counters sarcastically. Dean's gaze turns furious, but instead of saying anything he turns in his seat and starts the truck back up and shoots back onto the road. If he was honest with himself, he was just as pissed at Gracilynn for fighting as he was about the comment she made, if not more. Because if there was something Dean Winchester hated, it was when people called him out on his bullshit and through the truth he'd been hiding back in his face._

Please review! Hope ya'll liked it!


	31. It'll Work Dad

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

"Gracie. Gracie!" Dean calls his daughter, looking in the rearview mirror. Gracilynn startles back to reality and looks at her dad's reflection in said mirror. "You all right?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine," Gracilynn says. She doesn't miss the way her dad's eyes narrow.

"You sure? 'Cause you were dazing out on me there. You haven't done that in a while," Dean says, calling her out.

"Um…yeah, I'm fine. Really. Sorry," Gracilynn says. Dean stares at her for a few more seconds before bringing her up to speed, knowing she missed his and Sam's whole conversation.

"So, we're thinking it's the brother," Dean says.

"The brother?" Gracilynn asks.

"Yeah," Dean replies. "Well, think about it. All the victims weren't supposed to be there. What if the brother is still trying to protect his sister and instead of just killing people breaking in he's killing anyone that's not supposed to be there. Killing them how he was killed."

"Yeah, but ghosts don't usually just start killing innocents do they? Don't they work up to that?" Gracilynn asks.

"Right," Sam jumps in. "Which is why I looked at deaths throughout the past year and realized that the past ten victims weren't the only ones who were beaten to death. They got the publicity because there were kids involved. In the past year five other people were murdered the same way. The only difference, these guys were trying to break into the apartments there."

"Something tells me three of those guys were the robbers who killed Brayden," Dean says.

"Yeah, most likely," Sam says.

"Okay, so we salt and burn the bones right?" Gracilynn asks.

"I wish," Dean replies, parking the car in front of their room. "Brayden was cremated."

"Okay, so that means something else is holding him here," Gracilynn says.

"Yeah, the question is what?" Sam says, climbing out of the car. Dean and Gracilynn follow suit and the three of them head into the room. They each sit down at the table trying to brainstorm what it could be. Gracilynn thinks back to their interview with Mrs. Smith, remembering a book she had seen on the shelf.

"Baby album," Gracilynn says suddenly. Dean and Sam look up at her, confused.

"What?" Dean asks.

"On the bookshelf. Tiyanna Smith had a baby album for Brayden," Gracilynn clarifies.

"Okay, so what? You wanna go look at it?" Dean asks, not getting the point. Gracilynn sighs, reminding herself that her dad and uncle never had a baby album. Or at least, hadn't really seen it.

"Mom's usually put some of the baby's snipping's from their first haircut in the album," Gracilynn explains.

"Why?" Dean and Sam ask, clearly not understanding this.

"I don't know. Something to do with it being an emotional time for the mothers'? I guess it's a major sign that their baby is growing up or something. I never got it either," Gracilynn says.

"I guess it's worth a shot," Dean says, "We can stop by tonight."

"What? Are you crazy? Were you listening to Sam when he was telling us about the job?" Gracilynn asks. "The spirit attacks people who aren't supposed to be there at night."

"So we arm ourselves and prepare for him," Dean says. "It's the only way."

"No, it's not," Gracilynn counters.

"How do you expect us to do it?" Sam asks. "Just walk in and ask her for it? She won't give it to us."

"And here you're supposed to be the smart one," Gracilynn says, sighing and rolling her eyes. Gracilynn shakes her head and walks back out the door.

"Wait, we're going now? We just came from there," Dean says, grabbing his tie and jacket and rushing out the door after his daughter. Sam jumps up from his chair and runs out the door, shutting it behind him.

They didn't go straight to the Smiths' house; it would've been too soon. They stopped and got something to eat first where Gracilynn told them what she was thinking.

"I don't know Gracie," Dean says.

"It'll work dad," Gracilynn says determinedly. Dean sighs but caves in. They finish their meal and, after Dean pays for it, they head out to the Impala and over to the Smiths' home.

"Agents?" Tiyanna Smith asks, not expecting them to be back so soon. It had only been late this morning that they were here, only about five hours ago.

"Mrs. Smith," Dean says, "We found something that might break this case and was wondering if we could ask you a couple more questions?"

"Of course," she says, letting them into the house. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Thanks, that'd be great," Dean replies, noticing Arianna in the living room. Dean shoots Gracilynn a glance saying 'Now what?'.

"Hey, Arianna," Gracilynn says. Arianna looks over at them and rolls her eyes.

"I'm goin' out," Arianna yells to her mom as she leaves the house once again. Gracilynn gives her dad a smug look and Dean just rolls his eyes. Tiyanna leads them into the kitchen where Dean and Sam follow after her. Gracilynn hangs back and sneaks into the living room and over to the book shelf. She looks towards the kitchen to make sure her dad and uncle has Tiyanna occupied. Satisfied, she takes the baby book off the shelf and lays it on the floor, opening it up. She flips through the first few pages until she comes to what she's looking for. She grabs the bag taped to the page and opens it up quickly.

Gracilynn feels a breeze and her hair flies in her face. Her head whips up and she brushes the hair back behind her ear. She looks around the room but doesn't see anything. She looks back down at the bag and pulls out the lock of black hair. She pulls out her lighter and flips it open. There's another breeze, only this time stronger. Gracilynn's hair whips in front of her face and she hears some papers fly through the air. She stands up and turns quickly around, coming face to face with an eighteen year old boy.

Dean and Sam follow Tiyanna Smith into the kitchen where she pulls out two mugs and fill them with coffee. She turns and hands one to each of the boys.

"So…" she says, waiting for the agents to continue.

"Mrs. Smith, do you know who the guys were that killed your son?" Dean asks.

"No, I didn't. But Arianna did. She didn't say anything until the three of them showed up dead a few months ago," Tiyanna answers. Dean and Sam share a look. They're theory the guys who killed Brayden were the first victims was right. Dean turns back to face Tiyanna.

"Did you…" Dean begins only to stop as his eye catches something. The calendar hanging on the wall in the dining room had moved. Not a lot but just enough, as if a breeze had moved it. The problem was that the dining room was next to the living room. Dean looks at the window in the dining room and sees that it's closed.

"Agent?" Mrs. Smith asks, confused as to why he had suddenly stopped. Dean looks over at Tiyanna.

"Oh…uh…right. Did you know any of the other people who died recently?" Dean asks.

"Only Rhiannon. She was a family friend," Tiyanna says. Dean nods his head.

"Just one more question," Dean says, "…"

Dean stops once again, this time sure something bad was about to happen. A piece of paper flew into the dining room from the living room. He looks up at the calendar and sees it swinging from side to side as if a strong gust of wind blew through the house. Before he knows what he's doing, Dean runs past Tiyanna and towards the living room, stopping short at the sight before him.

Gracilynn sees the ghost in front of her and does the first thing that comes to her mind: smiles and lets out a short laugh. Okay, so not very helpful but what the hell. Before she has time to do anything else she feels her feet leave the floor, momentarily seeing her dad run into the room before she crashes into the opposite wall. Gracilynn falls to the floor, hearing footsteps and a scream. _Okay, so Tiyanna saw the ghost_. Gracilynn brings her hands underneath her, notices the lock of hair is still in her hand. She hears a yell and looks up in time to see her dad and uncle go flying into the couch. They flip over the top and onto the table. Gracilynn looks around for her lighter that she dropped when she flew through the air, seeing it underneath the desk near the ghost.

"Son of a Bitch," Gracilynn mumbles. She looks over at the ghost and sees him make his way towards her dad and uncle. Her gaze moves to Tiyanna who is pale and shaking. _I guess seeing the ghost of your eighteen year old dead son will do that to ya_ she thinks. Gracilynn looks back over at the ghost of Brayden making sure he didn't notice her yet. He had reached Dean and was kneeling over him. Gracilynn flinches when he lands a punch to her dad's face.

"Gracilynn!"

Gracilynn looks over at her uncle and realizes she's wasting time. She quickly crawls towards the desk and reaches underneath it, grabbing the lighter. She opens it up and flicks it on, holding it to the lock of hair in her other hand. The hair catches on fire and she drops it on the floor. She looks over and sees Brayden's ghost whip its head around to look at her. He charges at her, letting out a yell. Gracilynn covers her face with her arm and turns away, only feeling a strong breeze blowing at her as the ghost dissipates. Gracilynn drops her arm and sees the lock of hair is gone as well as the ghost. She turns and looks over at her dad and uncle, Sam is on his feet and Dean is pushing himself up to his knees, a flash of pain coming over his face. Gracilynn lets out a sigh of relief and pushes herself to her feet, walking over to her dad and helping him up to his own feet. Dean looks over at her, grabbing her shoulder and checking her over.

"You all right?" Dean asks her.

"I'm not the one who looks like she went twelve rounds with a brick wall," Gracilynn counters.

"What the hell was that?!"

The three Winchesters turn to look at Tiyanna who had obviously gotten her voice back.

"Uh…" Gracilynn says.

"You see…" Dean begins.

"It was your son's ghost. He's the one who's been killing all those people," Sam says bluntly. Dean and Gracilynn look over at him in surprise.

"Don't sugarcoat it for her," Gracilynn says. Sam shrugs his shoulders.

"You know what you saw," Sam says, "We did what we had to do to stop him from killing anyone else."

"My son's not a murderer," Tiyanna argues.

"No, probably not," Dean says, "But he is an older brother and he was protecting Arianna. He just…went a little crazy from being murdered and started attacking _everyone_ who came here at night and didn't live here."

"What am I supposed to tell my daughter?" Tiyanna asks.

"That's up to you," Gracilynn says. "You know her. You know what she can handle. What she will _want_ to know."

Tiyanna nods her head.

"Thank you," she says. Gracilynn gives her an encouraging smile and the three hunters exit the apartment.

"I think that was prolly the _shortest_ hunt I've ever been on," Gracilynn says as she enter the hotel room.

"You and me both," Dean agrees.

"We leaving?" Gracilynn asks, noticing Sam beginning to pack his bag. Dean looks over at Sam.

"Unless you two wanna stay the night here in the ghetto…" Sam says. Dean thinks about it. "Which means the Impala will be here over night."

"Okay, we're going," Dean says, beginning to pack his own bag, moving slowly. Gracilynn rolls her eyes but follows her dad and uncle's lead.

Shortly after, Dean stands up and lets out a groan. That kids' ghost really knocked him around. Gracilynn looks over at him, checking him over.

"You okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need to sleep it off," Dean says. Gracilynn jumps at the opening.

"Can I drive then?" she asks. Dean looks over at her critically. Gracilynn turns on the puppy dog eyes and gives her dad her heart melting smirk all at once. Dean sighs, regretting he and Sam ever taught her those tricks.

"Yeah, you can drive," Dean says unenthusiastically, tossing Gracilynn the keys. Gracilynn grins from ear to ear, catching the keys in the air and all but skips out to the car.

"I'm so gonna regret this," Dean mumbles, following his daughter out the door. He stops before he leaves the room though and looks back at Sam. "And _I'm_ getting shotgun."

Sam looks over at Dean's retreating back, shaking his head. He lets out his own sigh and grabs his bag and laptop, shutting the door behind him.

Please review! Next chapter the Winchesters take on Fairies!


	32. Third Kind Already?

Okay, so as promised, we're going to get up close and personal with some fairies! Enjoy!

"Of course it's not UFO's. Its fairies," Marion says. Gracilynn raises an eyebrow. They were in Elwood, Indiana working a job. Or at least, it would've been a job, but fairies? Really?

"Fairies. Okay. Well, thank you for your input," Dean says to Marion.

"What? Flying saucers not insane enough for you?" Sam asks. Gracilynn tries to stifle a laugh, having to turn it into a cough earning a look from her dad.

"What newspaper did you say you worked for?" Marion asks.

"Okay, if you want to add glitter to that glue you're sniffing, that's fine, but don't dump your whackadoo all over us. We'd rather not step in it," Sam says sarcastically. Dean steps in quickly before things start to get messy.

"Okay, we're, we're done," Dean says, grabbing Sam by the shoulders.

"The only thing you're missing is a couple dozen cats, sister," Sam adds, ignoring his brother trying to steer him away.

"It's a blood sugar thing. My apologies," Dean says to Marion before forcibly pushing Sam away from the woman. Gracilynn catches her dad's look and follows after them.

"What?" Sam asks as if he's clueless to his wrong-doing, although considering, he probably is.

"What? You gotta ask? Right, yes, you do have to ask," Dean says, muttering the last part to himself.

"Look, I'm sorry, but this is all a big joke, right, and we're not actually taking this UFO crap seriously?" Sam asks.

"Sam's got a point dad," Gracilynn says, "I mean fairies?"

"No. ET is made of rubber. Everybody knows that. But there are four legitimate vanishings in this town. Something's going on. And Sam? By the way, it's not the lady's fault that she took the brown acid," Dean says.

"Yeah! So?" Sam counters.

"Empathy, man. Empathy. I mean, the old Sam would have given her some, some wussified, dew-eyed crap," Dean replies.

"Old Sam had a soul—was a soul. Whatever," Sam points out.

"Right! Yes, and, and, but you don't—aren't. Whatever," Dean agrees, mirroring his brothers last comment.

"Right," Sam says.

"Right. You don't care," Dean says in turn.

"Well…" Sam says, not disproving the statement.

"You have to care!" Dean yells, jumping on the lack of comment from his brother.

"About what, exactly?" Sam asks.

"Us, for one," Gracilynn puts in.

"About everything, man! About being human at least," Dean adds.

"Look, Dean. You obviously care. A lot. And that's great. But I can't care about what—I can't care about it, you know? What do you want me to do, fake it?" Sam argues.

"Yes. Absolutely. Fake it. Fake it till you make it," Dean says.

"What happened to you wanting me to be all honest?" Sam asks.

"Truthfully? You were starting to get really creepy," Gracilynn says.

"Hey, you wanna be a real boy, Pinnochio, you gotta act the part," Dean says, agreeing with his daughter's point.

"I was faking it! Ever since we got back on the road together, I was picking every freaking word. It's exhausting," Sam yells.

"Okay. All Right. But until we get you back on the soul train, I'll be your conscience, okay?" Dean says.

"So you're saying you'll be my… Jiminy Cricket," Sam states.

"Shut up. But yeah, you freaking puppet. That's exactly what I'm saying," Dean says. Sam nods in agreement and walks ahead of them towards the Impala.

"Ow," Dean says after his daughter punches him in the arm. He looks down at her and rubs his arm. "What the hell was that for?"

"You stole that Pinnochio line from me," Gracilynn says.

"What? When?" Dean asks.

"Remember…real father? Japeto?" Gracilynn says.

"Oh, yeah," Dean says, smirking.

"Jerk," Gracilynn says, giving her dad a playful shove before walking ahead of him to the car. Dean chuckles to himself. Hey, what was the point of having a smart daughter just like him if he couldn't steal her lines every once in a while.

The Winchesters step into Brennan's Watchworks and take a look around. There are clock of all shapes and sizes lining the walls and shelves along with many watches in showcases. An older man is standing behind one of the showcases and Dean and Sam walk up to him.

"Mr. Brennan?" Dean asks.

"Mmm?" Mr. Brennan asks in turn, looking over at the male Winchesters.

"We're with The Mirror. We would like to ask you…" Sam begins but Mr. Brennan cuts him off.

"What? Is this about Patrick? Patrick's gone," Mr. Brennan says.

"Missing. Right. Yes, that's what we want to talk to you about," Dean replies.

"Now, your son was the first to disappear," Sam states.

"First to be taken," Mr. Brennan corrects.

"Taken," Sam fixes.

"Get out! Out!" Mr. Brennan suddenly yells. Gracilynn jumps slightly, having heard him starting to get aggravated but not expecting the sudden yell. She had been looking at some of the clocks and watches throughout the room.

"Mr. Brennan, who do you believe took your son?" Dean asks, knowing Mr. Brennan knows more than he's saying.

"You people can't help me. My boy is never coming back," Mr. Brennan says testily.

"You sound awfully sure," Sam accuses.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Brennan asks, his hackles beginning to rise.

"Like you know something you're not talking about," Sam accuses again. Dean steps in before Sam gets himself hit.

"Okay. All right," he says, stepping slightly in front of his brother.

"You know what they say. 72 hours. After that, the odds of finding a missing person drop to nothing, right?" Mr. Brennan says.

"Well, every case is different," Dean replies.

"It's been weeks," Mr. Brennan states firmly.

"All right. Listen. Call us if anything comes to mind," Dean says, handing Mr. Brennan a card. He nods to Gracilynn and she follows her dad and uncle outside.

"What do you think?" Sam asks his brother.

"I think he's hiding something. Why don't you stay and watch Watchmaker and see what happens when the sun goes down, and we'll go check," Dean answers, jutting a thumb towards Gracilynn.

"Okey dokey," Sam responds.

"But do _not_ engage with, maim or in any way kill Brennan. In fact, I don't want you making any judgment calls whatsoever. Anything happens, call me. Or, Gracie can just stay with you," Dean says firmly.

"You know, Jiminy, I was on my own for a whole year. I did fine without you," Sam replies.

"Yeah. I don't want to know your definition of fine," Dean replies. "Gracie stay with Sam."

With that, Dean gets into the Impala and takes off. Gracilynn watches her dad disappear out sight before turning to look at her uncle.

"All right Terminator. Where to?" she asks.

Sam glances over at his niece sitting at the table next to him. She was trying to hide a smirk on her face but was finding it hard to.

"You tell your dad about this…" Sam says.

"I know, I know. He'll beat your ass," Gracilynn says, giving her uncle a smirk before taking a sip of her beer. She was just glad she had her fake ID on her. And the fact that Uncle Schwarzenegger could care less what she did. "Speaking of dad, we should call him and give him an update."

Sam nods his head in agreement and pulls out his phone. He hits a button and puts the phone to his ear, waiting for Dean to pick up.

"What?" Gracilynn barely hears her dad's voice on the other end of the phone. Gracilynn leans in closer in order to hear the conversation better. Sam let's her, not wanting to put the phone on speaker.

"The only thing this guy is up to is alcoholism," Sam declares.

"Good," Dean says then something hits him. "Did you bring my daughter to a bar?"

"Yeah," Sam says bluntly.

"She better not be drinking," Dean says firmly. Sam ignores Dean's comment.

"You know, maybe I should go talk to him again. I mean, you're the one who said he's hiding something," Sam says instead.

"Shh! Shh!" Dean's harsh whisper comes over the phone. Gracilynn shoots her uncle a look.

"What? You see something? Dean, what's up?" Sam asks, trying to figure out what is going on.

"Hang on a second. Holy…," Dean says, pausing before yelling into the phone. "UFO! UFO!"

"Did he just…" Gracilynn asks, completely confused now.

"Whoa! Dude, stop yelling. You're breaking up. I didn't catch that last part," Sam says, not sure he heard correctly himself.

"Close encounter! Close encounter!" Dean yells into the phone.

"Close encounter! What kind? First? Second?" Sam asks mockingly. Gracilynn punches Sam in the arm, having heard the unease in her dad's voice.

"They're after me!" Dean yells, his breath coming in heavy. Gracilynn assumes he's running.

"Third kind already? You better run, man. I think the fourth kind is a butt thing," Sam says, earning another punch in the arm from his niece.

"Empathy, Sam! Empathy!" Dean yells at his brother.

"They still after you?" Sam asks casually.

"Come on!" Dean yells before the line goes silent.

"Dean? Are you there? What happened? Dean?" Sam asks, but doesn't get any response. The waitress sets a beer down in front of Sam. "Thanks."

Gracilynn watches, waiting for her uncle to let her know what's going on. Sam hangs up his phone and puts it in his pocket, taking a swig of his beer. Gracilynn watches him in disbelief; Sam catches this.

"What?" he asks.

"Well, what's going on?" Gracilynn asks, upset that she has to even ask this question.

"I don't know, he didn't answer," Sam replies.

"So, you order another beer?!" Gracilynn asks, standing up.

"I was thirsty," Sam says.

"You're gonna be on the floor in about two seconds if you don't get your ass up and moving," Gracilynn bites out, already heading to the door. Sam sighs, takes a long pull from his beer, and after throwing some money on the table follows Gracilynn out the door.

Please review and let me know what ya'll thought!


	33. Not Long Enough

Just thought I would vent a little here because you guys would understand it. But, this mini-break till the 24th is killing me! Stupid hellatus…I just want to know what happens! Anyways, enjoy!

"So, they're real. UFO's," Sam says to Wayne, the UFO 'expert'.

"Like I said before, son, the truth is out there," Wayne replies.

"Okay, you're the expert. How do I get them?" Sam replies.

"Come again?" Wayne asks, not sure he heard correctly.

"You hunt ET's, right? I need to know how to get them," Sam clarifies.

"You and me both," Wayne says.

"You don't know how to get them? Do you have _anything_ on them?" Gracilynn asks, annoyed at the lack of information they were getting. Wayne hands them a magazine of sorts. Sam takes it and begins looking through it as Gracilynn looks over his arm to read it as well.

"This is it?" Sam asks, getting annoyed himself.

"Well, I'd say that 30 years of eyewitness accounts speak for themselves as incontrovertible proof…" Wayne begins.

"Yeah, right. My brother was abducted so I'm pretty good on the whole proof part," Sam cuts Wayne off. A pretty girl walks up to them, having overheard their conversation.

"Your brother was abducted?" Sparrow asks. Gracilynn looks over at her and barely hides her annoyance.

"Yeah," Sam answers.

"Oh my God," Sparrow replies. Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"It's fine. I mean, I've had time to adjust," Sam says, shrugging it off.

"Did it happen when you were kids?" Sparrow asks, hanging on Sam's every word. Gracilynn feels like she's going to gag.

"No, it happened like a half an hour ago," Gracilynn says.

"So, you've been hunting UFO's for over three decades and you basically have no concrete data and zero workable leads," Sam says turning his attention back to Wayne.

"Well, I…" Wayne says, not really knowing what to say to that.

"Have you considered the possibility that you suck at hunting UFO's?" Sam says bluntly. Normally, Gracilynn would've done her dad's job and stepped in but right now, with her dad in trouble, this Wayne guy was really pissing her off. Something catches her eye and she gives her uncle a look, letting him know she was going to check it out. Sam nods his head.

"I'd like to help. If I can," Gracilynn hears Sparrow twitter at her uncle, because let's face it, that's exactly what she sounded like. Gracilynn walks over to Marion's camper.

"Hello dear," Marion says. Gracilynn forces a smile.

"Hi," she says in turn. "Um…you've been here for a while haven't you?"

"Yes," Marion replies.

"Has any of the people taken ever come back?" Gracilynn asks. Marion gives her a sympathetic look.

"No, unfortunately not," Marion answers. Gracilynn nods her head, biting her lip.

"Well, hypothetically, what would cause them to bring the people back?" Gracilynn asks. Marion studies Gracilynn for a minute.

"You know, UFO's aren't really my area of expertise," Marion says, "That's Wayne's department."

"Yeah, well he wasn't too helpful," Gracilynn says. Marion thinks a moment before answering.

"I guess if the person was more trouble then they're worth," Marion says, "But I'm not sure."

"So, if the person put up a fight. Made it too hard for them, you think they'll bring them back," Gracilynn says.

"I would assume so. But that's just a theory," Marion replies. Marion looks behind Gracilynn. "Isn't that the man you came with?"

Gracilynn look behind her and sees her uncle walk off with Sparrow. She lets out an exasperated huff.

"Seriously?" she grinds out. She shouts a thanks to Marion and takes off towards where she had last seen her uncle. She looks around only to see them drive off in Sparrows car towards the hotel. "Awesome. My uncle just ditched me to get laid. So glad I'm a ditchable prom date."

_Fine. Go get laid. I'm gonna go find dad and get him back._

Gracilynn is in the cornfield scanning her flashlight around. Yeah, coming here at night probably wasn't the smartest idea but what else was she going to do. Her uncle was at the hotel room doing…well, Gracilynn really didn't want to think about that. So, she figured she'd come back out here and take another look around, but so far, she has yet to find anything that could help her. Just like last time. Suddenly, there is a loud yell and gun shots. Gracilynn jumps, quickly dropping herself to the ground, looking off to her right.

"Son of a Bitch," she mutters, seeing her dad in the middle of the clearing, ready to attack. She waits for him to calm down and realize where he is. Once he puts his gun away, Gracilynn stands up and face him. "Dammit dad!"

Dean's head whips around and sees Gracilynn standing in front of him. He looks confusedly at her.

"Gracie?" he asks.

"What the hell?" Gracilynn asks, gesturing towards the gun in the back of his pants.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asks at the same time.

"Trying to find you," Gracilynn says as if it's obvious. Dean looks around the cornfield, amking his way over to his daughter.

"Where's Sam?" Dean asks, not seeing him around anywhere.

"I'm trying not to think about that," Gracilynn says with a disgusted look on her face. Dean gives her a curious look.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks.

"I mean we went back to that RV camp and next thing I know Dr. No-Feels is taking off towards the hotel with some chick," Gracilynn says, anger and hurt clearly evident in her voice.

"Wait a minute, he left you?" Dean asks. Gracilynn nods. "To go screw around with a Cocoon wannabe?"

"Yeah," Gracilynn says. Dean bites the inside of his cheek. "Can we go so you can kick his ass now?"

"You got a car?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, swiped it from the bar. No one will be missing it anytime soon," Gracilynn says. Dean's not sure how to feel about this but the thought of Sam ditching Gracilynn to go get laid pushes it to the back of his mind.

"Then let's go," Dean says, walking away with determination.

Dean and Gracilynn walk up to the door of their hotel room and Dean puts an arm out to stop her.

"Do me a favor and stay here," Dean says, not really wanting to go in himself but his anger pushing him forward.

"No argument here," Gracilynn replies. Dean opens the door and sees Sam in bed with Sparrow. Sam looks up and sees Dean in the doorway.

"Dean!" he yells.

"What the hell?" Dean says, barely controlling his anger.

"Oh that's Dean! Sam, they brought your brother back," Sparrow says. Gracilynn hears it outside and rolls her eyes. Sparrow gets up and gathers her clothes.

"Okay. It's all right, Sam. I so totally understand that you need time as a family. But it's just…what were they like?" she asks Dean. Gracilynn makes a face. _Did she seriously just ask him that?_

"They were grabby, incandescent douche bags. Good night," Dean says.

"Too soon… ? Okay" Sparrow replies as Dean lets her out the door. Dean turns to face Sam.

"Put something on so your niece can come in. You know the one you left stranded at Looneyville," Dean says. Sam grabs his clothes and quickly gets dressed. Dean peers his head out the door and nods for Gracilynn to come in which she complies. They both turn to look at Sam.

"You're upset," Sam states.

"No shit Sherlock," Gracilynn mutters.

"I was abducted. And you were banging Patchoul," Dean says angrily. "Oh, and did I mention you _ditched_ your niece to get _laid_."

"I didn't think she smelled that bad," Sam says of Sparrow. Gracilynn makes a face.

"You leave your sense of smell down in the pit along with your soul?" Gracilynn retorts.

"I was abducted by aliens!" Dean yells.

"I was looking into it," Sam says.

"He wasn't talking about Sparrows…" Gracilynn begins.

"Don't finish that," Dean orders, effectively resulting in Gracilynn snapping her mouth shut. Dean turns back to Sam. "Looking into it! I was gone for, like, an hour."

"An hour…" Sam says. Gracilynn looks over at her dad, surprised at his comment. "Dean, I think your watch is off. You've been gone all night."

"What are you talking about? No I haven't," Dean says. Gracilynn holds her phone up for her dad to see. "Four a.m.?"

"Yeah! UFO time slip. That actually falls in line with a lot of abduction stories," Sam says.

"Falls in line…" Dean says.

"Yeah," Sam replies.

"Nothing's falling in line," Dean argues.

"Here, Dad. Drink," Gracilynn says, handing Dean a bottle of water. Dean gulps half of it down. "Good."

"Thank you," Dean says.

"Yeah. Now. Come on. Talk to me. What happened?" Sam says, taking a seat on his bed. Gracilynn sits down on her dad's bed, waiting for him to start talking.

"Well, uh, there was this… God help me, Sam, there was this bright white light!" Dean says, almost feeling embarrassed at having to say it.

"It's okay," Sam says, patting Dean's leg. Dean looks over at him incredulously. "Safe room."

Gracilynn smirks, but covers it up quickly. She was, in fact, still mad at her uncle. No point in letting him believe she wasn't.

"And then suddenly, I was, uh, I was in a different place. And there were these beings, and they were too bright to look at, but I could feel them pulling me towards this sort of table…" Dean chokes out.

"Probing table," Sam exclaims, causing a grossed out look on Gracilynn's face as well as Dean's.

"God! Don't say that out loud!" Dean yells, beginning to pace the room.

"Right. So what did you do?" Sam asks.

"I went crazy. I started hacking and slashing and firing. They actually seemed surprised. I don't think anybody's ever done that before. Yeah. I had a close encounter, Sam, and I won," Dean says. This time Gracilynn did smirk. _I guess Marion was right._

"You should take a shower," Sam announces.

"I should take a shower. I'm gonna, I'm gonna take a shower now," Dean agrees, grabbing his clothes and quickly going into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. Gracilynn turns to her uncle when she hears the water turn on.

"You were working on it?" she asks.

"I was…" Sam defends.

"Not long enough," Gracilynn accuses. "While you were in here doing…whatever, _I_ was out still looking for him."

"Gracilynn…" Sam says.

"You know what, just don't," Gracilynn replies, walking towards her bed and climbing in. One thing was for sure, she wasn't letting her uncle off the hook that easy, soul or not.

Please review! Oh, and please check out my new story "We're Not Gonna Fall". It's a sequel to "Better Dig Two". Thanks!


	34. So Now What Do We Do?

Okay, so I've been sitting on my bed watching Supernatural and writing in this story. Thank you Supernatural Withdrawal! lol. So, as a result, this chapter is crazy long for you guys! Hope ya'll like it!

"So, on top of all the demons and the angels and the ghosts and the skinwalkers, it turns out that there's—so if aliens are actually real, what's next? Hobbits? Seriously," Dean says sitting at a booth in a diner with Sam and Gracilynn. The waitress walks by and Sam gives her the 'silent how ya doin'.

"Seriously?" Gracilynn asks, noticing the look. Dean notices it too.

"You just gave her the silent how ya doin'," Dean calls Sam out.

"What?" Sam asks.

"Our reality's collapsing around us, and you're trying to pick up our waitress?" Dean asks.

"Yeah. Okay. Look. Brings up a question. So, say you got a soul and you're on a case, and your brother gets abducted by alien," Sam says.

"Yeah, then you do everything you can to get him back," Dean finishes.

"Right! You do, but, what about when there are no more leads for the night? Are you supposed to just sit there in the dark and suffer, even when there's nothing that can be done at that moment?" Sam asks.

"Yes!" Dean exclaims.

"What?" Sam asks.

"Yes, you sit in the dark and feel the loss," Dean explains.

"Or you go to bed. By yourself. Get a good night's sleep so you're ready to look in the morning," Gracilynn adds. Dean make a look that says 'exactly'.

"Absolutely! But couldn't I just do all that and have sex with the hippie chick?" Sam says.

"No!" Dean and Gracilynn shout.

"It'd be in the dark," Sam says lamely.

"No you couldn't because you would be suffering, and you can't just turn that off for the night," Dean says. "Especially when your niece is with you and you're supposed to be looking out for her in your brothers' absence."

"Thanks guys," the waitress says, setting the bill on the table and giving Sam a look.

"Thank y…" Dean begins but Sam cuts him off.

"Why not?" Sam asks.

"Because if you had a soul, your soul wouldn't let you," Gracilynn says.

"So you're saying having a soul equals suffering," Sam says.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're saying," Dean says.

"Like, the million times you almost called Lisa. So you're saying suffering is a good thing," Sam states.

"I'm saying it's the only game in town," Dean clarifies.

"Okay! So how do we deal with the little green men?" Sam asks, effectively changing the subject.

"Research. We've got about a century of UFO lore to catch up on, and there's no time for… What's up with that guy?" Dean says.

"Who?" Sam and Gracilynn ask.

"The guy by the window giving me the stink eye," Dean answers. Sam and Gracilynn look out the window. Gracilynn doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"You mean the cop?" Sam asks.

"No, not the cop! The guy! He's right…oh now he's gone!" Dean says exasperatedly.

"Who's gone?" Sam asks unbelievingly.

"Can we please just get out of here before I hit you?" Dean asks, standing up and throwing some money on the table before walking towards the door.

"Okay! Geez," Sam says following after him and Gracilynn.

Gracilynn shuts the shower off and steps out of the tub. She hears her dad talking out in the room, most likely with her uncle. She grabs her clothes and begins getting changed. The radio suddenly turns on and the lights begin to flicker. Gracilynn freezes and looks around, hoping it's just a short in the wiring but knowing their luck wouldn't allow it.

"Oh no. Not again," she hears her dad says right before a door slams open. Gracilynn's head whips towards the bathroom door. She quickly finishes getting dressed, hearing thumping from the other side of the door. "Bitch!"

Gracilynn whips the bathroom door open and runs out just in time to see her dad slam the microwave shut and turn it on.

"Ha ha. Ha-ha!" Dean laughs loudly. The microwave dings and Gracilynn stares at him like he's gone insane.

"Uh…dad?" Gracilynn asks, looking around the room and not seeing any danger. Dean turns around and looks at his daughter with a triumphant expression on his face. "Um…what's going on?"

"I got it," Dean says, pointing at the microwave. Gracilynn raises an eyebrow and walks over looking inside, but not seeing anything.

"Got…what?" Gracilynn asks, looking back at her dad. Dean gives her a look.

"What do you mean what? That," Dean says, pointing at the microwave. He opens the microwave and shoves a hand towards it. "Tell me you can't see that!"

Gracilynn peers inside the microwave but still doesn't see anything. She looks over at her dad. He obviously saw something but she has no clue what it is.

"There's nothing in there, dad," Gracilynn says reluctantly. Dean huffs.

"I'm telling you this…light…came in and attacked me," Dean tries to explain but finds it hard to.

"A…light," Gracilynn says.

"I know how it sounds!" Dean explains, "But I'm telling you it was here. I trapped it in the microwave and nuked the bitch."

"Okay, I'm not saying you didn't see anything," Gracilynn says calmly. "I just…"

"Just what?" Dean asks.

"We should call Sam. See what he can make out of this," Gracilynn says, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Yeah, whatever," Dean says, frustrated no one else can see what he's been seeing.

"See what?" Sam asks peering into the microwave with Dean. Gracilynn leans up against the table watching them. She can tell her dad's getting frustrated with being the only one seeing whatever he's seeing.

"See what? See the blood. See all the blech," Dean replies.

"Sorry, man. I'm not seeing it," Sam says, shooting a look at Gracilynn.

"I didn't see anything either," Gracilynn shakes her head. "But I did hear the door slam open when I was in the bathroom."

"You don't see the ick? It's right there," Dean says, short of yelling, looking between his brother and daughter.

"Okay, let's go with you see it and we don't. What the hell was it?" Sam says.

"It was a, a little…naked lady, okay?" Dean says reluctantly.

"It was a what?" Sam asks.

"What?" Gracilynn asks at the same time.

"It was a… it was a little, glowing, hot naked lady. With nipples. And she hit me," Dean says.

"I'm not supposed to laugh, right?" Sam asks. Gracilynn snorts and Dean gives them both a look. "Right. Okay. Sure. Um. So, shot in the dark here, but did this little lady have wings?"

"What the hell made you say that?" Dean asks angrily. Gracilynn raises an eyebrow.

"You sound pretty defensive there dad," Gracilynn points out.

"She did, didn't she?" Sam asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, but how did, how'd y…" Dean begins but Sam interrupts.

"One of the fringier theories I came across. It's actually what crazy crystal lady was yammering about. What if these abductions have nothing to do with UFO's?"

"What?" Dean and Gracilynn ask. Sam sits at the table and pulls up the browser.

"Okay, say these encounters have been going on for centuries, not with extraterrestrials but with ultra-terrestrials. People nowadays say 'space aliens' or whatever, but they used to call them…" Sam says, spinning the laptop around to face Dean and Gracilynn.

"Smurfs," Dean says.

"Those little blue men in the TV shows?" Gracilynn asks.

"Fairies," Sam correct.

"Fairies? Come on!" Dean says.

"So dad got his ass kicked by Tinkerbell?" Gracilynn asks, not able to hide the amusement in her voice.

"Dean, there's a straight line between ET's and fairies. Glowing lights, abductions. It's all the same UFO stuff, just under a different skin," Sam explains.

"You seriously think that the secret with UFO's is…" Dean asks.

"Hey, you're the one who pizza-rolled…" Sam cuts in, pointing a hand to Gracilynn to give her credit. "Tinkerbell. I'm just doing the math. But this is good. This is a lead."

"A lead where?" Dean asks.

"Fairies. Sprites and spriggens. Bogarts and brownies. The little people have many names," Marion says. She hands the three Winchesters tea in mini-cups. Gracilynn looks around her trailer not believing all the 'fairies' she sees on display. Dean points at a figurine.

"Well, that's, uh, that's her. That's the little…" Dean says, not sure how to describe her. Gracilynn looks over at the figurine.

"Ooh," Marion says.

"Anyway, I, uh, I get that tinkerbells are fairies, but what about the tiny Santa Claus and the troll and the…" Dean asks, pointing at another figurine.

"That's a garden gnome, and that's a large goblin, and…" Marion supplies.

"But they're all fairies?" Dean asks, not really caring about the names of every fairy in existence.

"Yes. Faery comes in many shapes and sizes. Magical, mischievous beings from the realm next door," Marion answers.

"The fairy realm," Dean says.

"Mm-hmm," Marion says.

"So it's like another dimension?" Sam asks.

"Another reality! Yes. Only people who have been there and returned to our world can see the Faery here," Marion agrees.

"Right. Umm, why are the fairies abducting people?" Dean asks, not connecting the dots.

"Mmm. There is much theory and little fact. We know they only take firstborn sons, just like Rumplestiltskin did. Personally, I think they're taken to Avalon to service Oberon, the King of the Faery," Marion answers.

"Dean? Did you service Oberon, King of the Fairies?" Sam says amusingly. Gracilynn makes a face.

"Marion. Um. Let's say fairies are real, okay? What can we do about them?" Dean asks.

"Sorry?" Marion asks, not understanding.

"How do we…" Dean begins.

"Interact with them?" Marion asks.

"Yes, yes. Forcefully interact," Dean responds.

"Well, if you want to win a faery's favor, leave a bowl of fresh cream. They love cream," Marion explains.

"Okay! And, and, more forcefully?" Dean says, trying not to give away they want to kill them.

"Ohhh. All Faery hate iron, and the dark Faery burn when touched with silver. What else. Oh! You can spill sugar or salt in front of them. No matter how powerful, the Faery must stoop to count each grain," Marion says.

"Well, allrighty. That's…Wow! A lot to absorb. Thank you," Dean says, standing up from his seat.

"Oh, oh, stay! Finish your tea," Marion says.

"I gotta say I, I love the feel…it's uhh, it's…" Dean says, motioning at the inside of the trailer.

"It's like Sedona, Arizona, crapped in here," Sam finishes.

"Cute-a-riffic! Is what it is," Dean finishes himself. Marion laughs and Gracilynn snorts. "Cute-a-riffic."

"You have bigger cups?" Sam asks.

"I've so glad you came back," Marion says to Gracilynn. Gracilynn forces a smile. Dean looks over at his daughter.

"When d'you come here?" Dean asks her.

"Uh…when Sam and I came back to 'look into it'," Gracilynn answers.

"I'm glad to see you got your dad back," Marion says, looking over at Dean.

"What can I say? Dad never liked ET," Gracilynn responds.

"How d'you know I was her dad?" Dean asks curiously.

"Well, for one, she's the spitten image of you. Two, you both have the same expressions. And three, she seemed pretty worried the last time I saw her and now she seems fine. The only difference is you're here," Marion says.

"We should go," Gracilynn says, standing up. "Thanks for the tea."

"Of course sweetie," Marion says.

"God, is it on me? I feel like I've got the crazy on me," Dean replies, brushing his jacket off.

"No. You did sit in some glitter, though," Sam replies with a smirk.

"Makes me want to believe in UFO's again," Dean admits.

"Hey, at least we know what we're dealing with and how to get rid of them," Gracilynn says.

"So, you were really worried about me, huh?" Dean asks Gracilynn with a smirk. Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"No, not really. But I _was_ worried about having to fight Terminator over here for dibs on the Impala," Gracilynn replies with her own smirk. She nudges him with her shoulder and Dean chuckles, nudging her back. "So, now what do we do?"

"Not sure. Everything we learned doesn't really give us our next move. We can always put the call out to Bobby," Sam says.

"I think I know what will," Graiclynn says, nodding across the street. Dean and Sam follow her gaze and see Mr. Brennan buying a flat of cream.

"Hey. I'll be damned. Isn't that the watch guy?" Dean asks.

"Huh. They love cream," Sam says. The three hunters follow Mr. Brennan all the way to his store where he carries the flat of cream inside.

"All right you stick with half and half, and we're going to check out his store. And no hippie chicks!" Dean says. Sam follows after Mr. Brennan while Dean and Gracilynn sneak to the back of the store. Dean pulls out his lock picks, but before he can pick the lock Gracilynn grabs them out of his hands.

"Hey!" he says. Gracilynn just smirks and picks the lock herself, handing her dad his lock picks. Dean opens the door slowly and the two of them sneak into the store. They look in a room and see fairies making watches. Dean and Gracilynn share a look. Dean pulls her back to the rear door and the two of them sneak back out. Dean shuts the door and pulls out his phone, dialing Sam's number.

"Yeah?" Sam says over the phone. Gracilynn smacks her dad and the arm and Dean rolls his eyes but leans over for her to listen to the conversation as well.

"Freaking full of Keeblers over here, man. Just full of 'em," Dean says.

"What?" Sam asks.

"It's like the story with the shoe guy and all the elves. Hey, you think Brennan made a deal with a bunch of fairies?" Dean asks.

"Lemme get back to you," Sam replies. Dean hangs up the phone and looks over at his daughter.

"What?" Dean asks.

"You know fairy tales?" Gracilynn asks with a smirk.

"Shut up," Dean says, leading the way back to the street.

Dean and Gracilynn are walking along the sidewalk when Dean notices the Redcap from the diner standing on the other side of the street, staring at him. Dean grabs Gracilynn's arm and steers her away and sneaks off.

"Dad?" Gracilynn asks, feeling her dad grab her arm and steer her in another direction. She looks over at him and sees the change in his demeanor.

"That guy from the diner?" Dean says, "He's watching me. Again."

"Wait, the guy that…" Gracilynn begins buy snaps her mouth shut. She looks around but doesn't see anyone following them. Dean sees an alleyway up ahead and ducks into it, pulling Gracilynn with him. He pushes her behind him, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Stay put," Dean orders. He hears the Redcap approach them and he jumps out and tackles a midget, knocking him to the ground. Gracilynn's eyes widen.

"Holy…crap," she says.

"Wha…? Help! Help!" the midget says.

"Little fairy! What do you want, you fairy? Huh? Huh? Fairy!" Dean says, attacking the guy underneath him. Gracilynn looks up as a little girl screams.

"Daddy!"

"Crap," she curses. Dean stops and looks at the little girl in front of him and then down at the guy on the ground with him. He smiles sheepishly, laughing with the same tone.

"Oh God no. Haha! I'm just kidding!" he says, standing up and taking a step back, putting his hands up. Gracilynn looks over and sees a cop come over after saying something in his radio.

"Dad," Gracilynn hisses. A cop car pulls up just as the first cop approaches Dean, handcuffs him. A small crowd has gathered to watch the 'show'.

"Dean!" Gracilynn looks up and sees her uncle and Mr. Brennan approach them.

"Hey dude! What happened?" Sam asks Dean as Gracilynn walks over to him.

"Sam…. Hey!" Dean says, seeing his brother. Gracilynn watches as her dad is thrown into the back of a police car.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sam asks, confused as to what has just happened.

"Fight the fairies. You fight those fairies," Dean says as the cop car starts up. "Fight the fairies!"

Sam and Gracilynn watch as the cop car drives off. Sam turns to face his niece, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, so _what_ exactly happened?" he asks.

"He said that guy from the diner was watching him again. Following us and he was trying to get us away but couldn't shake him. We hid in an alleyway and dad attacked him," Gracilynn says. Sam still looks confused.

"So, he got arrested because…?" he asks.

"He attacked a midget instead," Gracilynn says. Sam makes an 'oh' face and nods his head. "Okay, so now what do we do?"

"We go back to Mr. Brennan's store," Sam says, nodding at the guy standing next to him.

Please review! Love hearing what everyone thinks!


	35. You Earned It

Okay, so this chapter is a little shorter but the next one will be longer. I promise

Sam and Gracilynn walk down the sidewalk towards Mr. Brennan's store. They pass by a house where a family is walking up the steps and into the house. Gracilynn stops and watches them for a minute. Sam turns around to see why Gracilynn stopped.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asks, seeing her staring at a house.

"That house…" Gracilynn says. Mr. Brennan looks over at the house, noticing whose it is.

"Yeah, that's John Spinters house," Mr. Brennan says. "He's the county's district attorney."

Gracilynn looks both ways and then begins crossing the street. Sam watches her trying to figure out what she's doing.

"Gracilynn," Sam calls. Gracilynn turns around to see her uncle with his arms out wide, silently asking her what's going on.

"We gotta get dad outta jail. Short of breaking him out, there's not much else we can do," Gracilynn says.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Sam asks.

"Try to convince the guy he attacked not to press charges," Gracilynn says.

"And how are you going to do that?" Sam asks in return. Gracilynn smirks.

"Lie," she answers, turning around and jogging up the steps to the front door.

"All right, let's go," Sam says to Brennan.

Gracilynn reaches the door and turns around to see her uncle and Brennan continue on their way to Mr. Brennan's store. She turns back around and knocks three times, waiting for someone to answer it. John Spinter answers the door and looks up at her, obviously knowing she looks familiar.

"Mr. Spinter?" Gracilynn asks.

"Yeah. Who are you?" he says.

"We need to talk," Gracilynn says, giving the guy her best puppy eyes. Spinter narrows his eyes at her but must have decided she wasn't a threat because he steps to the side and lets her in. Gracilynn follows him in to the living room and takes a seat on the couch. John sits in a chair to her left.

"Okay, so what do we need to talk about?" Mr. Spinter asks.

"Um…about that guy who attacked you earlier," Gracilynn says. She sees Spinter automatically tense up.

"How do you know…Wait a minute. You were there," Spinter says, recognition coming back to him. He stands up ready to make a bolt for it.

"Wait! Just…just wait. I can explain everything," Gracilynn says, holding her hands up in a calming manner. Spinter stops and studies her for a moment. He sits slowly back down in his chair, never taking his eyes off of her.

"Five minutes," Mr. Spinter says. Gracilynn nods her head in understanding.

"Okay, listen, my dad's not usually like that. He doesn't attack random people out on the street," Gracilynn says, earning a scoff from Spinter. "It's just…"

Spinter looks over at Gracilynn and sees she's looking vulnerable and nervous. He knows there is something more to the story, just by this open display from the girl across from him.

"It's just what?" Spinter asks. Gracilynn takes a deep breath, making sure her eyes begin to well up a little.

"A few months ago…I was kidnapped and tortured by this…psycho," Gracilynn begins, bringing on more tears. "It was a few days before they found me. And they never caught the guy even with my description of him."

"Geez," Spinter says, seeing the tears in the girls' eyes.

"Dad hasn't been handling it too well and he's been really protective of me. He thought he saw someone who matched the guys' description and we hid. He jumped out and attacked him only it was you instead," Gracilynn says, letting a tear fall.

"I'm so sorry," Mr. Spinter says, feeling his emotions rise up. He would've done the same thing if it was his daughter.

"He was just trying to protect me. It was a mistake. He stopped once he knew it was you. He would've never attacked if he knew it was you walking by. Please Mr. Spinter. He's all I have left," Gracilynn pleads, letting another tear fall and putting the puppy dog eyes on full force.

"Okay, okay. Don't worry about it. I'll handle all of this. Everything's going to be fine," Spinter says.

"Thank you so much," Gracilynn says, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

"Come on. Let's go fix this," Spinter says, standing up and grabbing his coat. He tells his wife where he's going and he and Gracilynn head out of the house down to the police station.

Gracilynn and Mr. Spinter walk into the jail and up to the cop on duty.

"Stay here," Mr. Spinter says to Gracilynn and she takes a seat in one of the chairs. She watches as Spinter and the cop go to the back room. She looks around, hoping to see her father anywhere.

Ten minutes later, Mr. Spinter and the cop walk back out and they head through another door. Mr. Spinter winks at her before shutting the door behind him. Gracilynn waits, feeling the tension relax a little in her shoulders. She wasn't sure if this was going to work but she was sure glad it did. She hears footsteps and looks up as the door opens again and this time the cop and Spinter are accompanied by her dad. Gracilynn lets a relieved grin appear on her face and she jumps up running to her dad.

"Dad!" Gracilynn yells, giving Dean a big hug. Dean returns the hug, kissing her on the top of her head. He didn't know what had happened just that whatever Gracilynn told Spinter got him out of here. And that it had something to do with protecting her. Gracilynn pulls away from her dad and looks over at Mr. Spinter, giving him a grin.

"Thank you," she says. Spinter returns it with a grin of his own.

"You're welcome. You two take care of each other," Spinter says.

"We will," Gracilynn says, grabbing her dad and leading him out of the police station and down the sidewalk.

"Okay, you mind explaining what the hell all that was back there?" Dean asks, curiosity getting the better of him. Gracilynn looks behind her to make sure no one was around.

"I just told him that I was kidnapped a few months ago and that when the cops got me they didn't catch the guy. Said you thought the guy was following us 'cause he matched the description I gave the cops but when you jumped out to attack him it turned out to be Spinter instead," Gracilynn summarizes. Dean raises an eyebrow. Gracilynn grins proudly.

"It's amazing what a few well-played tears, puppy dog eyes, and playing on one's weaknesses will accomplish," Gracilynn says. Dean chuckles. He didn't like how this life was coming so easy for her but he had to admit it did come in handy sometimes. And he'd rather her be prepared than caught like a deer in headlights. He wraps an arm around Gracilynn's shoulders and gives her a squeeze.

"That's my girl," he says, giving her a proud smile.

Dean, Sam, and Gracilynn are standing by the Impala. Sam had gotten rid of the fairies shortly before Gracilynn and Spinter had arrived at the jail. Dean offers Sam a beer, which he refuses. Dean looks over at his daughter and smiles, offering her one.

"You're gonna let me drink a beer?" Gracilynn asks unbelievably, eyebrows raised in surprised.

"You earned it," Dean says. Gracilynn grins and grabs the beer and Dean grabs one for himself. "So. Here's to the tiniest DA. And the best daughter. At least they're dropping the charges."

"Little big man," Sam says.

"I was wondering something," Dean says.

"Yeah?" Sam asks.

"You think Lucky Charms really could have , you know, soul to sender?" Dean asks. Gracilynn looks over and watches her dad and uncle.

"Come on. It's crazy to think. He did talk a good game though," Sam replies.

"You said no. Why?" Dean asks. Gracilynn looks over at her uncle, watching his reaction.

"It was a deal. When's a deal ever been a good thing?" Sam responds.

"I'm just trying to figure out how it works in there," Dean says, talking about Sam's brain.

"Dude, I do still have all my brain cells. If anything, my brain works better now," Sam says defensively.

"Just making sure that's where your head's at. That you're not having second thoughts about getting your soul back," Dean replies.

"Oh," Sam says.

"You're not, are you?" Dean asks, eyeing his brother.

"No," Sam responds. Gracilynn bites her lip, not sure if she believes her uncle or not. She knew, without a doubt, her dad and herself were _not_ letting her uncle back out of this.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think!


	36. You Should've Told Me

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

"You okay?" Dean asks Gracilynn. She was sitting in the front seat, leaning up against the passenger door, eyes closed. She had been quitter than usually since their fight with Crowley. Since Sam admitted he didn't want his soul back and walked away from them. Again.

"I'm fine. Just tired," she says, without opening her eyes. Truthfully, she was far from fine. Yeah, she was tired from their previous job but it was more than that. Way more than that. It was the fact her uncle didn't want his soul back. The fact he walked away once again and now it was just her and her dad once again. She promised herself she was going to find a way to help her uncle. How was she going to be able to do that if he wasn't around. Oh, and not to mention her dad was up to something. He had been stocking up on his cash.

"You sure?" Dean asks. He had been stocking up on his cash supply the past couple days, but had been keeping it from Gracilynn. He had a plan to get Sam's soul back but he really didn't want Gracilynn to know what he was going to do. She'd flip out on him. Not that she wasn't suspecting anything; she was a Winchester. He knew she knew he was up to something. He just had to postpone the inevitable lecture until _after_ he did what he was going to do.

"Yeah, dad," Gracilynn says, getting annoyed. Dean sighs. He pulls into a motel and goes inside to book a room. Gracilynn waits for him to come back out and when he does he hands her a room key. Gracilynn takes it and gives him a look as he parks in front of their room.

"I'm gonna go grab some food. Why don't you set up the room?" Dean says.

"Why can't I just go with you?" Gracilynn asks, suspecting something's up.

"I figured we could kill two birds with one stone," Dean says. Gracilynn narrows her eyes. She gets out of the car, taking the keys with her and going to the trunk. She grabs their bags and walks back over to her dad's door. He had rolled the window down and she hands him the keys. Just as he's about to take them back from her, she pulls them back.

"I know you're up to something. I know it's something dangerous otherwise you'd tell me," Gracilynn calls her dad out.

"Gracilynn…" Dean says firmly, but she cuts him off.

"I swear to God if you don't come back in one piece, I'll kill you myself," Gracilynn says angrily. She thrusts the keys in her dad's hand and enters the motel room. Dean sighs. _Yup, she's gonna kick my ass_.

Gracilynn gets into the motel room and sets their bags at their respective beds. She begins pouring salt lines at the door and windows. When she's all done she looks out the window but doesn't see her dad yet. Gracilynn sighs. She turns around and looks at the computer on the table. She bites her lip.

"Crap," she curses, making up her mind and walking over to the computer. She types something in the computer and hits a few buttons. "What the hell are you doing there?"

Gracilynn gets up from the table and pulls out the gun her dad had given her months ago. She sticks it in the waistband of her pants and throws her coat back on. Yeah, her dad was going to be pissed she had followed him, but she was pissed at him for lying to her. So, she guesses they're even. She shuts the door behind her and walks to the back lot of the motel. She looks around and doesn't see anyone and breaks into a car at the end of the row. She climbs in and hotwires the car, taking off to where she knew her dad was.

Gracilynn pulls up in front of a Chinese place. She shuts the car off and climbs out of the car. Looking around she notices the Impala parked a little ways a way. _Guess I'm in the right place_. Gracilynn crosses the street and enters the store, walking up to the Chinese man behind the counter. She shoots him a smile.

"Hi, I'm looking for my dad. He's a little over six foot…" Gracilynn starts. The Chinese man points to his left and Gracilynn looks, seeing a hallway.

"All the way to the back," the man says.

"Thanks," Gracilynn says, walking down the hallway. At the end there is a series of stairs and she climbs them up to an apartment. She gets to the door and listens for anything out of the ordinary.

"Four, three, two...now," Gracilynn hears a woman says. Then there is a noise that sounds like a shock and then a thump. Gracilynn pulls out her gun and slowly opens the door. What meets her eyes has her freezing and her breath catch.

"Again," a guy in a white coat says and they shock the body on the table once again. The body that belongs to her dad.

"What the hell?!" Gracilynn yells, shocking herself out of her trance the same time they shock her dad. The doctor and nurse look over at her.

"You must be Gracilynn," the doctor says, noticing the gun pointed at him. "We're not hurting him. We're trying to revive him."

"Well, how the hell did he get to this point?" Gracilynn asks angrily.

"He asks me to do it," the doctor says.

"He what? That's insane!" Gracilynn says, part of her not believing him but the other part can't help but think he's telling the truth. It would explain her dad's odd behavior the past couple of days.

"Listen, your dad can explain everything when we get him back. He's already been dead for five minutes," the doctor says.

"What?" Gracilynn asks, feeling as if she's going to be sick.

"Eva, adrenaline!" the doctor shouts and the nurse sticks a needle in her dad. Gracilynn looks at the still figure of her dad, lying on the table. _He's already been dead for five minutes_. Gracilynn forces a swallow and she drops her hand with the gun, eyes never leaving her dad's body. She hears the doctor and nurse talking but she can't make out what their saying. Her hearing is muffled and she feels her vision tunnel, as well as tears beginning to form in her eyes. Suddenly, her dad jerks up, gasping for air and Gracilynn jumps slightly.

"Oh, thank Moses," the doctor says.

"You couldn't have given me five more seconds?" Dean asks, dropping back down on the table. The doctor glances at Gracilynn quickly before looking back at Dean.

"Son, you were gone for seven minutes," he tells Dean.

"I was?" Dean asks.

"Mm-hmm. I thought for sure death had you by the twins," the doctor replies. Dean forces a laugh and takes a deep breath. "There's someone here to see you."

Dean opens his eyes and gives the doctor a confused expression. The doctor nods towards Gracilynn and Dean looks over and sees her looking at him and…_Yup, she's pissed_.

"Dammit," Dean mutters.

"Dammit is right," the doctor says, noticing the same look Dean has. Dean sits up, groaning.

"You're supposed to be at the motel," Dean says.

"And you're supposed to not be dead!" Gracilynn yells. She shakes her head and wipes away an escaped tear angrily before turning around and walking towards the stairs.

"Son of a Bitch!" Dean yells, jumping off the table. He yells a hasty thank you and runs out the door after his angry daughter. He catches up to her as she reaches the Impala. He grabs her arm and turns her around.

"Ya know, I know you were up to something stupid but really? This? You died dad. For _seven_ minutes. And I had to stand by and watch, _hoping_ you'd come back," Gracilynn says angrily.

"You weren't supposed to see any of that," Dean says.

"A wise man once said if you have to _hide_ it then you prolly shouldn't be doing it," Gracilynn says, throwing Dean words he'd said to Sam back when he was with Ruby and exercising demons with his mind. She yanks her arm out of her dad's grasp and walks around to the passenger side door.

"I found a way to get Sam's soul back," Dean says bluntly. Gracilynn's head shoots up and she looks at her dad, not sure if she heard him correctly.

"What?" she asks.

"Let's get to Bobby's and I'll tell everyone at once," Dean says, opening his door. Gracilynn bites her lip but eventually nods her head and opens her own door. "Call Sam. Get him there."

"You what?!" Sam asks loudly. Gracilynn stares at her dad, wide-eyed, not really sure what to think about what her dad had just told them.

"Just hear me out," Dean says.

"I heard Cass and Crowley when they said it would either kill me or turn me to jello, Dean! I heard enough!" Sam argues.

"Death said he can put up a wall," Dean explains.

"A wall?" Sam asks.

"Yes, yes, a wall…that…that, basically, you wouldn't remember hell," Dean further explains.

"Really?" Sam asks.

"Really," Dean replies.

"For good? Like a cure?" Sam prods.

"No, it's not a cure. It...He said it could last a lifetime," Dean responds.

"Great. So, playing pretty fast and loose with my life here, don't you think, Dean?" Sam counters bitterly.

"I'm trying to save your life!" Dean yells.

"Exactly, Dean! It's my life! It's my life, it's my soul. And it sure as hell ain't your head that's gonna explode when this whole scheme of yours goes sideways!" Sam yells back. Gracilynn feels like she's watching a ping pong game.

"Just curious. I presume Death's not doing this out of the goodness of his heart. So what's your half of the deal?" Bobby says from his spot on the couch next to Gracilynn. Dean begins to get evasive.

"Dad?" Gracilynn asks.

"Well…uh…" Dean begins but it's as far as he gets.

"I'm sorry. I didn't get that," Bobby says firmly.

"I have to wear the ring for a day," Dean finally says.

"Why the hell would he want you to do that?" Bobby asks, confused.

"Get his rocks off. I don't know. But I'm doing it," Dean says. Sam makes a move to leave and Gracilynn jumps up and stands in his way.

"Where you going?" Dean asks.

"Look, I hear you, all right? I get it. I just need a minute to wrap my head around it, all right?" Sam says. Gracilynn gives her dad a look and Dean nods subtly. Gracilynn sighs and stands off to the side to let her uncle past. Turning around to face her dad, Gracilynn eyeballs him. Dean shifts from foot to foot, knowing she was going to yell at him. _God, I should not be worried about my _daughter_ yelling at me_.

"So, what?" Gracilynn asks.

"What what?" Dean replies. Gracilynn scoffs.

"What happened if you didn't come back? Huh? What? Would I have to find out from some stranger after you didn't return that day? Seriously dad?!" Gracilynn yells angrily.

"I wrote you a letter. The doc was going to mail it to you if I didn't come back," Dean says lamely.

"Yeah, cause nothing says goodbye like a damn letter," Gracilynn growls out.

"I had to do it Gracilynn," Dean says.

"I know. But you shouldn't have kept it from me. You should've told me," Gracilynn argues.

"Why? So you could worry?" Dean counters.

"So I could be there. As backup," Gracilynn says then adds, "I will always worry dad. It's in our blood; it's what we do. Worry about the people we care about. Nothing's going to stop that from happening."

"She's got a point son," Bobby puts in. Dean gives him a look.

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side," Dean says.

"I'm on whoever's side is right at the moment. Or at least less wrong," Bobby replies. Dean sighs and looks over at his daughter.

"All right. I should've told you what I was doing," Dean says. Gracilynn nods her head and then bites her lip.

"When you do this…You're coming back right?" Gracilynn asks. Dean looks at her for a second.

"Yeah, Gracie. I'm coming back. I promise," Dean says. "Come on. Let's go get Sam."

Dean, Gracilynn, and Bobby walk into the yard and see Sam staring at a hole in the ground. They walk up behind him and Dean pulls out a ring from his pocket. He holds it up for Sam to see.

"Looking for this?" he asks.

"Just taking a walk," Sam explains lamely.

"Sam. I'm your brother. I'm not gonna let you get hurt. I know what I'm doing here," Dean assures.

"What if you're wrong?" Sam counters.

"I won't let it go wrong," Dean replies.

"Fine," Sam says.

"Fine? So, you're…" Dean says, trailing off.

"So, I'm trusting you here. Barely," Sam finishes for him.

"You sure?" Dean asks.

"You're the one with the compass, right? Just don't mess it up," Sam says.

"I won't," Dean says to him then turns to Bobby and Gracilynn. "Watch him."

"So, is this the part where you pull a gun on me and lock me in the panic room?" Sam asks Bobby and Gracilynn.

"Do we have to?" Bobby asks.

"No. I guess Dean's got to do what he's got to do," Sam replies.

"Guess we all do kid," Bobby says. Sam nods his head and heads upstairs to where his room is. Gracilynn looks over at Bobby.

"If I didn't know before I do now. Dad's doing the right thing Uncle Bobby," Gracilynn says. Bobby looks at her, curious.

"Why do you say that?" Bobby asks.

"'Cause he's scared," Gracilynn says.

"I thought he didn't feel anything," Bobby says.

"He doesn't. But the way he's acting…it's exactly what someone does when they're scared. Which tells me that somewhere deep down, Uncle Sam is in there," Gracilynn says.

"I sure hope so, kid," Bobby replies. "I sure hope so."

Okay, so I'm thinking like one, maybe two, chapters after this and this story will be done. Please review!


	37. He Means the World to Me

Okay, gang, here's the last chapter of this installment of my Gracie series. Many have inquired if I will be continuing this series and the answer is yes. I FULLY intend on continuing this series all the way to the end. As long as you guys keep reading, I'll keep writing So, without further ado…

Gracilynn and Bobby are in the library when Sam enters the house. They look up and see him walk into the room. Bobby stands up and goes to greet him.

"We woke up and you were gone. Where you been?" Bobby asks.

"Just driving around. No biggie," Sam replies. Bobby nods his head and shares a look with Gracilynn. When they realized Sam was gone they knew he was up to something. They were both wary of his motives right now. The three of them sit down at the table and begin to play poker, the two elder hunters with drinks.

"Pair of aces," Sam says, laying his cards on the table.

"Want another one?" Bobby asks, holding out an empty beer bottle.

"Yeah sure," Sam replies. Bobby glances over at the couch where Gracilynn fell asleep a short time ago. He heads over to the fridge and while he's looking inside for the beer, Sam grabs a wrench and goes to knock Bobby in the back of the head. Bobby grabs a bat from the refrigerator and turns, knocking Sam out first.

"May have been born at night, boy, but it wasn't last night," Bobby says, looking down at an unconscious Sam. Bobby walks over and grabs some rope, but when he turns back around, he sees Sam is gone. "Not good. Let's not do anything hasty here, Sam."

Bobby looks around the room but doesn't see him anywhere. He walks over to the couch, still watching his surroundings, and shakes Gracilynn awake. Gracilynn startles awake and sits up, vision bleary, and looks over at Bobby.

"What's wrong?" she asks, noticing the rope in Bobby's hands.

"He tried to knock me out but I beat him to it," Bobby whispers, "Or, at least, I thought I did. He's gone now."

Gracilynn stands up and looks around the room but, like Bobby, doesn't see her uncle anywhere. She begins walking towards the kitchen and to the hallway when Bobby grabs her arm, holding her back. Gracilynn looks back at him.

"We gotta find him. It'll be better if we split up," she says.

"Not if you get hurt," Bobby counters.

"You planning on me getting hurt? 'Cause I sure as hell ain't," Gracilynn says.

"You Winchesters _never_ plan on getting hurt and look where that gets you," Bobby points out. Gracilynn rolls her eyes.

"I'll be fine," she says, shrugging Bobby's hand off and making her way upstairs.

"Idjit," Bobby mutters, "These Winchesters are gonna kill me yet."

Gracilynn sneaks down the hallway upstairs, peering in each room. As she nears the bathroom, she hears a creak behind her and she freezes. She whips around only to be hit in the face, knocking her to the ground where her vision goes black.

Gracilynn stirs awake, her eyes blinking open. All she can hear is the band banging loudly. _Oh, wait. That's just inside my head._ Gracilynn reaches a hand up and holds her pounding head, shutting her eyes for a moment. Her eyes fling open when she remembers she got punched in the face. Her hand immediately moves to her nose where she hisses and her hand retreats. She holds her hand up in front of her face and sees blood on it and she curses. Slowly, Gracilynn sits up and pushes herself to her feet. She looks in the mirror and sees her nose isn't broken but it was definitely going to be sore and she was definitely going to be sporting two black eyes. She wipes a sleeve over her top lip and gets most of the blood off, trying not to tough her sore nose.

_Uncle Bobby._

Gracilynn suddenly realizes that Bobby was looking for Sam as well and she hurriedly leaves the bathroom and quietly heads down the stairs. She looks through the house but doesn't see either one of them anywhere. She heads outside and begins to round the corner when a sound catches her ear. Gracilynn turns around in time to see the Impala pull in the driveway and stop in front of the house. She rushes over to where her dad has jumped out of the car.

"Gracie? Are you okay?" Dean asks, seeing her face as she comes up to him.

"I don't know where they are. Sam went crazy and attacked us…and…dad…" Gracilynn says, not really sure what she's trying to say.

"Okay, okay," Dean says, trying to calm his daughter down. "You check the house?"

"Yeah," Gracilynn replies, nodding her head.

"All right, follow me," Dean says, heading towards the corner his daughter just came from. "And stay close."

Dean gently pushes Gracilynn behind him as he peers around the corner, his eye catching Bobby's shed in the back. He looks back at Gracilynn and nods his head for her to follow him and the two of them quickly sneak over to the shed. Dean peers in one of the windows and sees Bobby tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Sam is walking towards Bobby with a knife in his hand. Dean peers over his shoulder at Gracilynn, catching her eye.

"Stay here," he mouths firmly. Gracilynn nods her head, not really sure she wants to see what's inside. Dean slowly and quietly opens the shed door and sneaks up behind Sam. Curiosity getting the better of her, Gracilynn peers in the window and sees Sam raise a knife to stab Bobby with. She sees her dad intervene, grabbing Sam's arm.

"Hi, Sam. I'm back," Gracilynn hears her dad say right before he knocks him out.

Dean is standing in Bobby's basement, along with Bobby and Gracilynn, who's sitting on the steps. They had handcuffed Sam to the cot in the panic room and had shut the door. Dean wipes a hand through his hair and over a tired face. He looks over and really takes in Gracilynn's face. There's still a little dried blood on her nose and it's pretty swollen.

"You should go put some ice on that," Dean says, nodding to her nose.

"Yeah," Gracilynn says, standing up.

"Wipe your face too. You missed some blood," Dean says as gently as he can. Gracilynn nods her head and, glancing towards the panic room, she heads upstairs.

Gracilynn walks into the kitchen, not really paying too much attention to anything. She grabs a paper towel and wets it, wiping off the excess dried blood she didn't get before. After throwing it out, Gracilynn opens the freezer and pulls out an ice pack.

"That doesn't look good."

Gracilynn whips around and drops the ice pack, startled at seeing the newcomer sitting at the table, cursing. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, getting her breathing back under control. Gracilynn opens her eyes and picks the ice pack back up. Death raises an eyebrow.

"Does your father approve of that mouth?" he asks.

"Sorry. You…startled me," Gracilynn says, putting the ice pack on her nose, hissing when it touches.

"Where _is_ your father?" Death asks.

"Uh…downstairs," Gracilynn says. "Um…no offense…"

"Usually when people say 'no offense' it usually proceeds something that should be taken offensive," Death says.

"Okay…well, why are you here? I mean dad said he didn't win the bet," Gracilynn says.

"What does your uncle mean to you?" Death asks. Gracilynn is taken aback by the question, but recovers quickly.

"He's my uncle. He means the world to me," Gracilynn says.

"And you have your uncle," Death says.

"No. I don't. That…down there…he isn't my uncle. It's just his body. What make him my uncle is what's being tortured downstairs. It's knowing I can go to him with any problem and he'll do his best to help me and cheer me up. It's knowing that if me or my dad are in trouble, he'll be there to help us even if it means he'll get hurt. It's the bear hugs he gives that holds all his emotion. The bickering between him and dad. The Bitch-face we get when we annoy him and that stupid smile he tries to hide when he finds what we say funny but doesn't want us to know. That downstairs will _never_ be my uncle," Gracilynn says, her emotions clawing to the surface and everything she wanted to say spills out.

"Very well," Death says. There is a noise and Death and Gracilynn look over to the archway and see Dean walk into the kitchen. Death holds out a hot dog. "Dean. Join me. Brought you one from a little stand in Los Angeles known for their bacon dogs. Sit."

Dean stares at Death, the last person he expected to see sitting at Bobby's table. He looks over at Gracilynn. Something had happened; he could tell by the emotion in her eyes, even if she did quickly cover it up everywhere else. Dean looks back at Death, but doesn't sit nor take the hot dog.

"Boy, what's with you and cheap food?" he asks instead.

"I could ask you the same thing. Thought I'd have a treat before I put the ring back on. Heavier than it looks, isn't it? Sometimes, you just want the thing off. But you know that. Not hungry?" Death replies.

"Look... I think you know that I flunked. So there. Oh, and by the way, I, uh...I sucked at being you. Really screwed up the whole natural order thing. But I'm sure you knew about that, too," Dean says.

"So, if you could go back, would you simply kill the little girl? No fuss, no stomping your feet?" Death asks. Dean swallows and glances at Gracilynn before answering Death.

"Knowing what I know now, yeah," he answers.

"I'm surprised to hear that. Surprised and glad," Death says.

"Yeah, well, don't get excited. I would have saved the nurse, okay? That's it," Dean responds.

"I think it's a little more than that. Today, you got a hard look behind the curtain. Wrecking the natural order's not quite such fun when you have to mop up the mess, is it? This is hard for you, Dean. You throw away your life because you've come to assume that it'll bounce right back into your lap. But the human soul is not a rubber ball. It's vulnerable, impermanent, but stronger than you know. And more valuable than you can imagine. So... I think you've learned something today," Death lectures.

"Want to know what I think? I think you knew that I wouldn't last a day," Dean accuses.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Death says.

"I lost. Fine. But at least have the balls to admit that it was rigged from the jump," Dean says angrily.

"Most people speak to me with more respect," Death points out.

"I didn't mean…" Dean begins, but Death cuts him off.

"We're done here. It's been lovely. But now I'm going to go to hell to get your brother's soul," Death says. Dean stares at him in surprise and Gracilynn's eyes widen.

"Why would you do that for me?" Dean asks.

"I wouldn't do it for you. You and your brother keep coming back. You're an affront to the balance of the universe, and you cause disruption on a global scale," Death says.

"I apologize for that," Dean replies.

"But you have use. Right now, you're digging at something. The intrepid Detective. I want you to keep digging, Dean. And besides, you're daughter made a very valid point," Death says, giving Gracilynn a look. Dean looks over at Gracilynn curiously.

"So you're just gonna be cryptic, or...," Dean says, looking back over at Death.

"It's about the souls. You'll understand when you need to," Death says, standing up.

"Wait…with Sam... Is this wall thing really gonna work?" Dean asks.

"Call it 75%," Death says and disappears. Dean and Gracilynn look over at each other, sharing a look.

"Bobby!" Dean yells.

"Uncle Bobby!" Gracilynn yells at the same time. The two of them run to the basement door and run down the stairs.

"Open the door," Dean demands.

"What happened?" Bobby asks.

"Now!" Dean yells. Bobby rushes to the door and opens it as quickly as he can. The three hunters go inside to see Death standing by the cot.

"Get away from me! Don't. Don't!" Sam yells at Death.

"Now, Sam, I'm gonna put up a barrier inside your mind," Death begins to explain.

"No, don't touch me," Sam demands.

"It might feel a little...Itchy. Do me a favor…don't scratch the wall. Trust me…you're not gonna like what happens," Death warns.

"Please. Don't do this," Sam says to everyone in the room. Gracilynn stands next to her dad, hand holding his sleeve without realizing it. She watches as Death pulls Sam's soul out of a bag and goes to put it in him.

"No, no! You don't know! You don't know what'll happen to me! Dean, please! Gracilynn! No. No. No," Sam yells. Gracilynn's hand subconsciously tightens on her dad's sleeve and Death puts Sam's soul back inside of him.

"Ah!" Sam yells.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and/or reviewing this story! I appreciate and love hearing from ya'll. The next story is going to be called "Don't Look Back".

Please review!


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